diff --git a/src/backend/clients/database/SqliteDatabaseClient.test.ts b/src/backend/clients/database/SqliteDatabaseClient.test.ts
index 6bdbfa4ff..647b468c0 100644
--- a/src/backend/clients/database/SqliteDatabaseClient.test.ts
+++ b/src/backend/clients/database/SqliteDatabaseClient.test.ts
@@ -134,8 +134,7 @@ describe('SqliteDatabaseClient — boot and migrations', { timeout: DISK_MIGRATI
             'UPDATE `group` SET `handle` = ? WHERE `id` = (SELECT MIN(`id`) FROM `group`)',
             ['design-team'],
         );
-        // Without COLLATE NOCASE this differs per engine: MySQL rejects it via
-        // utf8mb4_unicode_ci while sqlite and postgres would let it through.
+        // Without NOCASE this differs per engine: mysql rejects, the others accept.
         await expect(
             client.write(
                 'UPDATE `group` SET `handle` = ? WHERE `id` = (SELECT MAX(`id`) FROM `group`)',
@@ -144,6 +143,20 @@ describe('SqliteDatabaseClient — boot and migrations', { timeout: DISK_MIGRATI
         ).rejects.toThrow(/UNIQUE/iu);
     });
 
+    it('matches a handle case-insensitively on lookup, not just on insert', async () => {
+        // Index-only NOCASE would leave `WHERE handle = ?` case-sensitive here while
+        // mysql's utf8mb4_unicode_ci column matched -- one query, two behaviours.
+        await client.write(
+            'UPDATE `group` SET `handle` = ? WHERE `id` = (SELECT MIN(`id`) FROM `group`)',
+            ['design-team'],
+        );
+        await expect(
+            client.read('SELECT `handle` FROM `group` WHERE `handle` = ?', [
+                'Design-Team',
+            ]),
+        ).resolves.toEqual([{ handle: 'design-team' }]);
+    });
+
     it('runs the javascript migrations, not just the .sql ones', async () => {
         // The `system` user only exists because 0025 (a .dbmig.js file) ran
         // inside the migration VM.
diff --git a/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/mysql/mysql_mig_32.sql b/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/mysql/mysql_mig_32.sql
index 14ee32d66..b2da63778 100644
--- a/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/mysql/mysql_mig_32.sql
+++ b/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/mysql/mysql_mig_32.sql
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ CALL _puter_add_col('group', 'name', '`name` varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL');
 CALL _puter_add_col('group', 'handle', '`handle` varchar(64) DEFAULT NULL');
 CALL _puter_add_col('group', 'deleted_at', '`deleted_at` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL');
 CALL _puter_add_col('jct_user_group', 'org_owned', '`org_owned` tinyint(1) DEFAULT NULL');
-CALL _puter_add_col('user', 'requires_password_change', '`requires_password_change` tinyint(1) DEFAULT NULL');
+CALL _puter_add_col('user', 'requires_password_change', '`requires_password_change` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT ''0''');
 
 DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS _puter_add_team_indexes;
 DELIMITER //
diff --git a/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/postgres/postgres_mig_21.sql b/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/postgres/postgres_mig_21.sql
index 9c31ad539..f88ae6fc4 100644
--- a/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/postgres/postgres_mig_21.sql
+++ b/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/postgres/postgres_mig_21.sql
@@ -35,4 +35,4 @@ ALTER TABLE jct_user_group ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS org_owned smallint;
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_jct_user_group_group
     ON jct_user_group (group_id, user_id);
 
-ALTER TABLE "user" ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS requires_password_change smallint;
+ALTER TABLE "user" ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS requires_password_change smallint NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;
diff --git a/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/sqlite/0077_teams.sql b/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/sqlite/0077_teams.sql
index 5140e27aa..a08b434c4 100644
--- a/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/sqlite/0077_teams.sql
+++ b/src/backend/clients/database/migrations/sqlite/0077_teams.sql
@@ -15,16 +15,15 @@
 -- You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
 -- along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
--- Teams: a `group` row with `kind = 'team'` owns accounts and pays for them.
--- Seeded system groups keep `kind` NULL, so a team query never returns them.
+-- A `group` row with `kind = 'team'` owns accounts and pays for them; seeded
+-- system groups keep `kind` NULL so a team query never returns them.
 
 ALTER TABLE `group` ADD COLUMN `kind`       TEXT      DEFAULT NULL;
 ALTER TABLE `group` ADD COLUMN `name`       TEXT      DEFAULT NULL;
-ALTER TABLE `group` ADD COLUMN `handle`     TEXT      DEFAULT NULL;
+ALTER TABLE `group` ADD COLUMN `handle`     TEXT      COLLATE NOCASE DEFAULT NULL;
 ALTER TABLE `group` ADD COLUMN `deleted_at` TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NULL;
 
--- NOCASE so a handle is unique the way a username is (see 0055). MySQL gets this
--- from utf8mb4_unicode_ci; postgres needs a lower() index. NULLs stay distinct.
+-- NOCASE on both column and index, so lookups match mysql's utf8mb4_unicode_ci.
 CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS `idx_group_handle`
     ON `group` (`handle` COLLATE NOCASE);
 
@@ -38,5 +37,5 @@ ALTER TABLE `jct_user_group` ADD COLUMN `org_owned` INTEGER DEFAULT NULL;
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS `idx_jct_user_group_group`
     ON `jct_user_group` (`group_id`, `user_id`);
 
--- Fourth `requires_*` flag, enforced by assertVerifiedAccount. Set on admin reset.
-ALTER TABLE `user` ADD COLUMN `requires_password_change` INTEGER DEFAULT NULL;
+-- Fourth `requires_*` flag; assertVerifiedAccount will enforce it in phase 5.
+ALTER TABLE `user` ADD COLUMN `requires_password_change` INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;