diff --git a/docsgpt/deploy/commands.py b/docsgpt/deploy/commands.py
index 94a144f6..ca7be581 100644
--- a/docsgpt/deploy/commands.py
+++ b/docsgpt/deploy/commands.py
@@ -805,12 +805,14 @@ def _check_postgres(uri: Optional[str]) -> Check:
         with psycopg.connect(uri, connect_timeout=5) as connection, connection.cursor() as cursor:
             cursor.execute("select current_setting('server_version')")
             version = cursor.fetchone()[0]
-            cursor.execute("select to_regclass('public.alembic_version')")
+            # Unqualified, like alembic itself: env.py sets no version_table_schema, so the table
+            # lives wherever search_path puts it. Asserting public would call a migrated database empty.
+            cursor.execute("select to_regclass('alembic_version')")
             applied = cursor.fetchone()[0] is not None
             current = None
             if applied:
-                # public, like the to_regclass check above: search_path could resolve another one.
-                cursor.execute("select version_num from public.alembic_version")
+                # The same relation the check above resolved, by the same rules.
+                cursor.execute("select version_num from alembic_version")
                 row = cursor.fetchone()
                 current = row[0] if row else None
     except (psycopg.Error, OSError, ValueError) as exc:
diff --git a/tests/deploy/test_doctor.py b/tests/deploy/test_doctor.py
index 4acca1d5..4cc4a343 100644
--- a/tests/deploy/test_doctor.py
+++ b/tests/deploy/test_doctor.py
@@ -261,12 +261,17 @@ class TestPostgresCheck:
         assert check.level == "ok"
         assert "16.2" in check.detail and "0031_x" in check.detail
 
-    def test_the_revision_comes_from_the_schema_that_was_checked(self, monkeypatch):
-        """to_regclass looks in public, so the second query must not resolve through search_path."""
+    def test_both_queries_resolve_the_same_table(self, monkeypatch):
+        """Alembic sets no version_table_schema, so the table follows search_path; asserting a
+        schema in one query and not the other is how doctor called a migrated database empty."""
         cursor = _postgres_answering(monkeypatch)
         commands._check_postgres("postgresql://localhost/d")
-        revision_query = [statement for statement in cursor.statements if "version_num" in statement]
-        assert revision_query and all("public.alembic_version" in statement for statement in revision_query)
+        looked_up = [statement for statement in cursor.statements if "to_regclass" in statement]
+        read = [statement for statement in cursor.statements if "version_num" in statement]
+        assert looked_up and read
+        assert all("public." not in statement for statement in looked_up + read), (
+            "neither query may pin a schema alembic never promised"
+        )
 
     def test_a_database_with_no_schema_yet(self, monkeypatch):
         """The commonest first-run state: the database exists, nothing has been migrated into it."""