diff --git a/server/lib/settings/index.ts b/server/lib/settings/index.ts
index 70aa360efa..3288761592 100644
--- a/server/lib/settings/index.ts
+++ b/server/lib/settings/index.ts
@@ -811,16 +811,22 @@ class Settings {
       await this.save();
     }
 
+    let change = false;
     if (data && !raw) {
       const parsedJson = JSON.parse(data);
       const migratedData = await runMigrations(parsedJson, SETTINGS_PATH);
-      this.data = mergeSettings(this.data, migratedData);
+      const merged = mergeSettings(this.data, migratedData);
+
+      if (JSON.stringify(merged) !== JSON.stringify(migratedData)) {
+        change = true;
+      }
+
+      this.data = merged;
     } else if (data) {
       this.data = JSON.parse(data);
     }
 
     // generate keys and ids if it's missing
-    let change = false;
     if (!this.data.main.apiKey) {
       this.data.main.apiKey = this.generateApiKey();
       change = true;