diff --git a/spec/rails_helper.rb b/spec/rails_helper.rb
index 0b58a5ca486..5f8d9f50050 100644
--- a/spec/rails_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/rails_helper.rb
@@ -176,6 +176,12 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
   config.infer_base_class_for_anonymous_controllers = true
 
   config.before(:suite) do
+    begin
+      ActiveRecord::Migration.check_pending!
+    rescue ActiveRecord::PendingMigrationError
+      raise "There are pending migrations, run RAILS_ENV=test bin/rake db:migrate"
+    end
+
     Sidekiq.error_handlers.clear
 
     # Ugly, but needed until we have a user creator