diff --git a/internal/repository/iam/events_step.go b/internal/repository/iam/events_step.go
index 07255a22a8..50e324e2e2 100644
--- a/internal/repository/iam/events_step.go
+++ b/internal/repository/iam/events_step.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package iam
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+
 	"github.com/caos/zitadel/internal/eventstore"
 
 	"github.com/caos/zitadel/internal/domain"
@@ -34,6 +35,10 @@ func SetupStepMapper(event *repository.Event) (eventstore.EventReader, error) {
 	step := &SetupStepEvent{
 		BaseEvent: *eventstore.BaseEventFromRepo(event),
 		Done:      eventstore.EventType(event.Type) == SetupDoneEventType,
+		Step:      domain.Step1,
+	}
+	if len(event.Data) == 0 {
+		return step, nil
 	}
 	err := json.Unmarshal(event.Data, step)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/desired.go b/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/desired.go
index 32ae456623..9fbd545342 100644
--- a/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/desired.go
+++ b/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/desired.go
@@ -3,15 +3,16 @@ package configuration
 import "github.com/caos/orbos/pkg/secret"
 
 type Configuration struct {
-	Tracing       *Tracing       `yaml:"tracing,omitempty"`
-	Cache         *Cache         `yaml:"cache,omitempty"`
-	Secrets       *Secrets       `yaml:"secrets,omitempty"`
-	Notifications *Notifications `yaml:"notifications,omitempty"`
-	Passwords     *Passwords     `yaml:"passwords,omitempty"`
-	DebugMode     bool           `yaml:"debugMode"`
-	LogLevel      string         `yaml:"logLevel"`
-	DNS           *DNS           `yaml:"dns"`
-	ClusterDNS    string         `yaml:"clusterdns"`
+	Tracing             *Tracing       `yaml:"tracing,omitempty"`
+	Cache               *Cache         `yaml:"cache,omitempty"`
+	Secrets             *Secrets       `yaml:"secrets,omitempty"`
+	Notifications       *Notifications `yaml:"notifications,omitempty"`
+	Passwords           *Passwords     `yaml:"passwords,omitempty"`
+	DebugMode           bool           `yaml:"debugMode"`
+	LogLevel            string         `yaml:"logLevel"`
+	MigrateEventStoreV1 bool           `yaml:"migrateEventstoreV1"`
+	DNS                 *DNS           `yaml:"dns"`
+	ClusterDNS          string         `yaml:"clusterdns"`
 }
 
 type DNS struct {
diff --git a/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals.go b/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals.go
index ca552f45fd..10283c7e7d 100644
--- a/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals.go
+++ b/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals.go
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ package configuration
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
-	"github.com/caos/orbos/pkg/kubernetes"
-	"github.com/caos/zitadel/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/database"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/caos/orbos/pkg/kubernetes"
+
+	"github.com/caos/zitadel/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/database"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -31,6 +33,7 @@ func literalsConfigMap(
 		"ZITADEL_KEY_PATH":               secretPath + "/" + zitadelKeysPath,
 		"ZITADEL_LOG_LEVEL":              "info",
 		"DEBUG_MODE":                     strconv.FormatBool(desired.DebugMode),
+		"ZITADEL_MIGRATE_ES_V1":          strconv.FormatBool(desired.MigrateEventStoreV1),
 		"SMTP_TLS":                       tls,
 		"CAOS_OIDC_DEV":                  "true",
 		"CR_SSL_MODE":                    "require",
diff --git a/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals_test.go b/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals_test.go
index 3c99b45f68..b709bf2984 100644
--- a/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals_test.go
+++ b/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/configuration/literals_test.go
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 package configuration
 
 import (
+	"testing"
+
 	kubernetesmock "github.com/caos/orbos/pkg/kubernetes/mock"
 	"github.com/caos/orbos/pkg/secret"
-	"github.com/caos/zitadel/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/database"
 	"github.com/golang/mock/gomock"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/caos/zitadel/operator/zitadel/kinds/iam/zitadel/database"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -191,6 +193,7 @@ func TestConfiguration_LiteralsConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 		"SMTP_HOST":                           "",
 		"CAOS_OIDC_DEV":                       "true",
 		"DEBUG_MODE":                          "false",
+		"ZITADEL_MIGRATE_ES_V1":               "false",
 		"CR_AUTH_CERT":                        "test/client.auth.crt",
 		"ZITADEL_OIDC_KEYS_ID":                "",
 		"CR_MIGRATION_CERT":                   "test/client.migration.crt",
@@ -267,6 +270,7 @@ func TestConfiguration_LiteralsConfigMapFull(t *testing.T) {
 		"ZITADEL_ISSUER":                      "https://issuer.domain",
 		"ZITADEL_KEY_PATH":                    "test/test",
 		"ZITADEL_LOG_LEVEL":                   "debug",
+		"ZITADEL_MIGRATE_ES_V1":               "false",
 		"ZITADEL_OAUTH":                       "https://api.domain/oauth/v2",
 		"ZITADEL_OIDC_KEYS_ID":                "oidcid",
 		"ZITADEL_OTP_VERIFICATION_KEY":        "otpid",