diff --git a/services/horizon/cmd/db.go b/services/horizon/cmd/db.go
index fb49896e62..b29535c4b5 100644
--- a/services/horizon/cmd/db.go
+++ b/services/horizon/cmd/db.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
@@ -32,15 +33,28 @@ var dbMigrateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "commands to run schema migrations on horizon's postgres db",
 }
 
-func requireAndSetFlag(name string) error {
+func requireAndSetFlags(names ...string) error {
+	set := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, name := range names {
+		set[name] = true
+	}
 	for _, flag := range flags {
-		if flag.Name == name {
+		if set[flag.Name] {
 			flag.Require()
-			flag.SetValue()
-			return nil
+			if err := flag.SetValue(); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			delete(set, flag.Name)
 		}
 	}
-	return fmt.Errorf("could not find %s flag", name)
+	if len(set) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	var missing []string
+	for name := range set {
+		missing = append(missing, name)
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("could not find %s flags", strings.Join(missing, ","))
 }
 
 var dbInitCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -48,7 +62,7 @@ var dbInitCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "install schema",
 	Long:  "init initializes the postgres database used by horizon.",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		if err := requireAndSetFlag(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
+		if err := requireAndSetFlags(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName, horizon.IngestFlagName); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
@@ -72,6 +86,11 @@ var dbInitCmd = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 func migrate(dir schema.MigrateDir, count int) error {
+	if !config.Ingest {
+		log.Println("Skipping migrations because ingest flag is not enabled")
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	dbConn, err := db.Open("postgres", config.DatabaseURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -95,7 +114,7 @@ var dbMigrateDownCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "run downwards db schema migrations",
 	Long:  "performs a downards schema migration command",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		if err := requireAndSetFlag(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
+		if err := requireAndSetFlags(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName, horizon.IngestFlagName); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
@@ -119,7 +138,7 @@ var dbMigrateRedoCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "redo db schema migrations",
 	Long:  "performs a redo schema migration command",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		if err := requireAndSetFlag(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
+		if err := requireAndSetFlags(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName, horizon.IngestFlagName); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
@@ -143,7 +162,7 @@ var dbMigrateStatusCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "print current database migration status",
 	Long:  "print current database migration status",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		if err := requireAndSetFlag(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
+		if err := requireAndSetFlags(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
@@ -173,7 +192,7 @@ var dbMigrateUpCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "run upwards db schema migrations",
 	Long:  "performs an upwards schema migration command",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		if err := requireAndSetFlag(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
+		if err := requireAndSetFlags(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName, horizon.IngestFlagName); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
@@ -453,7 +472,7 @@ var dbDetectGapsCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "detects ingestion gaps in Horizon's database",
 	Long:  "detects ingestion gaps in Horizon's database and prints a list of reingest commands needed to fill the gaps",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		if err := requireAndSetFlag(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
+		if err := requireAndSetFlags(horizon.DatabaseURLFlagName); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
diff --git a/services/horizon/internal/flags.go b/services/horizon/internal/flags.go
index 149679a19a..ed98480569 100644
--- a/services/horizon/internal/flags.go
+++ b/services/horizon/internal/flags.go
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import (
 const (
 	// DatabaseURLFlagName is the command line flag for configuring the Horizon postgres URL
 	DatabaseURLFlagName = "db-url"
+	// IngestFlagName is the command line flag for enabling ingestion on the Horizon instance
+	IngestFlagName = "ingest"
 	// StellarCoreDBURLFlagName is the command line flag for configuring the postgres Stellar Core URL
 	StellarCoreDBURLFlagName = "stellar-core-db-url"
 	// StellarCoreURLFlagName is the command line flag for configuring the URL fore Stellar Core HTTP endpoint
@@ -456,7 +458,7 @@ func Flags() (*Config, support.ConfigOptions) {
 			Usage:     "TLS private key file to use for securing connections to horizon",
 		},
 		&support.ConfigOption{
-			Name:        "ingest",
+			Name:        IngestFlagName,
 			ConfigKey:   &config.Ingest,
 			OptType:     types.Bool,
 			FlagDefault: true,
diff --git a/services/horizon/internal/integration/db_test.go b/services/horizon/internal/integration/db_test.go
index ba4c274d87..ddd3cc2701 100644
--- a/services/horizon/internal/integration/db_test.go
+++ b/services/horizon/internal/integration/db_test.go
@@ -529,6 +529,48 @@ func command(horizonConfig horizon.Config, args ...string) []string {
 	}, args...)
 }
 
+func TestMigrateIngestIsTrueByDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	tt := assert.New(t)
+	// Create a fresh Horizon database
+	newDB := dbtest.Postgres(t)
+	freshHorizonPostgresURL := newDB.DSN
+
+	horizoncmd.RootCmd.SetArgs([]string{
+		// ingest is set to true by default
+		"--db-url", freshHorizonPostgresURL,
+		"db", "migrate", "up",
+	})
+	tt.NoError(horizoncmd.RootCmd.Execute())
+
+	dbConn, err := db.Open("postgres", freshHorizonPostgresURL)
+	tt.NoError(err)
+
+	status, err := schema.Status(dbConn.DB.DB)
+	tt.NoError(err)
+	tt.NotContains(status, "1_initial_schema.sql\t\t\t\t\t\tno")
+}
+
+func TestMigrateChecksIngestFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	tt := assert.New(t)
+	// Create a fresh Horizon database
+	newDB := dbtest.Postgres(t)
+	freshHorizonPostgresURL := newDB.DSN
+
+	horizoncmd.RootCmd.SetArgs([]string{
+		"--ingest=false",
+		"--db-url", freshHorizonPostgresURL,
+		"db", "migrate", "up",
+	})
+	tt.NoError(horizoncmd.RootCmd.Execute())
+
+	dbConn, err := db.Open("postgres", freshHorizonPostgresURL)
+	tt.NoError(err)
+
+	status, err := schema.Status(dbConn.DB.DB)
+	tt.NoError(err)
+	tt.Contains(status, "1_initial_schema.sql\t\t\t\t\t\tno")
+}
+
 func TestFillGaps(t *testing.T) {
 	itest, reachedLedger := initializeDBIntegrationTest(t)
 	tt := assert.New(t)