diff --git a/docker/scripts/install.sh b/docker/scripts/install.sh
index fc14fc5cb..501a40221 100644
--- a/docker/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/docker/scripts/install.sh
@@ -178,6 +178,8 @@ if $MIGRATION_MODE; then
     wait_for_pg "${DB_USER}"
 
     step "Restoring database"
+    [[ -f "${DUMP_FILE}" ]] \
+        || error "Dump file '${DUMP_FILE}' not found. The migration script may have failed.\n  Check: ./surfsense-migration.log\n  Or run manually: bash ${INSTALL_DIR}/scripts/migrate-database.sh --yes"
     info "Restoring dump into PostgreSQL 17 — this may take a while for large databases..."
 
     RESTORE_ERR="/tmp/surfsense_restore_err.log"
diff --git a/docker/scripts/migrate-database.sh b/docker/scripts/migrate-database.sh
index 8a7c9eae6..26b276dad 100755
--- a/docker/scripts/migrate-database.sh
+++ b/docker/scripts/migrate-database.sh
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ wait_for_pg() {
     success "${label} is ready."
 }
 
-step "Migrating data from legacy database (PostgreSQL 14 → 17)"
+info "Migrating data from legacy database (PostgreSQL 14 → 17)"
 
 # ── Step 0: Pre-flight checks ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
 step "0" "Pre-flight checks"