diff --git a/etc/init_gitlab.sh b/etc/init_gitlab.sh
index 63f47e3..c919ae9 100755
--- a/etc/init_gitlab.sh
+++ b/etc/init_gitlab.sh
@@ -153,6 +153,60 @@ get_gitlab_migrations_diagnostics() {
   echo "$_diag"
 }
 
+check_gitlab_migrations_blocked() {
+  local _latest_job
+  _latest_job=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get jobs -l "app=migrations" --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp -o jsonpath='{.items[-1:].metadata.name}' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  [[ -n "$_latest_job" ]] || return 0
+
+  local _job_failed
+  _job_failed=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get job "$_latest_job" -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")].status}' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  
+  # 1. Active Failure Detection
+  local _latest_pod
+  _latest_pod=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pods -l "job-name=$_latest_job" --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp -o jsonpath='{.items[-1:].metadata.name}' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  if [[ -n "$_latest_pod" ]]; then
+     local _restarts
+     _restarts=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_latest_pod" -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[?(@.name=="migrations")].restartCount}' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+     local _waiting_reason
+     _waiting_reason=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_latest_pod" -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[?(@.name=="migrations")].state.waiting.reason}' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+     local _exit_code
+     _exit_code=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_latest_pod" -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[?(@.name=="migrations")].state.terminated.exitCode}' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+     if [[ "$_waiting_reason" == "CrashLoopBackOff" || ( -n "$_exit_code" && "$_exit_code" != "0" ) ]]; then
+        log "GitLab migrations job is actively failing: ${_latest_job} (pod: ${_latest_pod}, restarts: ${_restarts}, exitCode: ${_exit_code:-unknown})"
+        local _diag
+        _diag=$(get_gitlab_migrations_diagnostics "$_latest_job")
+        repair_blocked "GitLab migrations job is actively failing" \
+          "Job: ${_latest_job}. Pod: ${_latest_pod}. Status: ${_waiting_reason:-Terminated}. ExitCode: ${_exit_code:-unknown}. Restarts: ${_restarts}.
+Diagnostics:
+${_diag}"
+     fi
+  fi
+
+  # 2. Stale Failed Job Repair
+  local _job_creation_ts
+  _job_creation_ts=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get job "$_latest_job" -o jsonpath='{.metadata.creationTimestamp}' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  local _job_pods_running
+  _job_pods_running=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pods -l "job-name=$_latest_job" -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.status.phase=="Running")]}{.metadata.name}{"\n"}{end}' 2>/dev/null | wc -l | xargs || echo "0")
+  local _job_pods_pending
+  _job_pods_pending=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pods -l "job-name=$_latest_job" -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.status.phase=="Pending")]}{.metadata.name}{"\n"}{end}' 2>/dev/null | wc -l | xargs || echo "0")
+  
+  local _now_ts
+  _now_ts=$(date +%s)
+  local _creation_ts
+  _creation_ts=$(python3 -c "from datetime import datetime; print(int(datetime.strptime('$_job_creation_ts'.replace('Z', '+0000'), '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z').timestamp()))" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+  local _age
+  _age=$(( _now_ts - _creation_ts ))
+
+  if [[ "$_job_failed" == "True" && "$_job_pods_running" == "0" && "$_job_pods_pending" == "0" && $_age -gt 600 ]]; then
+    log "GitLab operator is stalled on stale failed migrations job: ${_latest_job} (age: ${_age}s, no active pods)"
+    log "Deleting stale failed migrations job to trigger repair..."
+    kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" delete job "$_latest_job" --wait=true 2>/dev/null || true
+    kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" delete pods -l "job-name=$_latest_job" --force --grace-period=0 2>/dev/null || true
+    log "Stale migrations job deleted. Operator should recreate it shortly."
+  fi
+}
+
 check_host_resolves() {
   local target_host="$1"
   # Strip port if present
@@ -236,9 +290,8 @@ get_gitlab_blocker_context() {
     local _m_last_pod=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pods -l "job-name=$_last_mig" --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp -o jsonpath='{.items[-1:].metadata.name}' 2>/dev/null || true)
     if [[ -n "$_m_last_pod" ]]; then
        local _m_pod_status=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_m_last_pod" -o jsonpath='{.status.phase}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-       local _m_mig_status=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_m_last_pod" -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[?(@.name=="migrations")]}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-       local _m_restarts=$(echo "$_m_mig_status" | python3 -c "import sys, json; data=json.load(sys.stdin); print(data.get('restartCount', 0))" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
-       local _m_waiting=$(echo "$_m_mig_status" | python3 -c "import sys, json; data=json.load(sys.stdin); print(data.get('state', {}).get('waiting', {}).get('reason', ''))" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+       local _m_restarts=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_m_last_pod" -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[?(@.name=="migrations")].restartCount}' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+       local _m_waiting=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_m_last_pod" -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[?(@.name=="migrations")].state.waiting.reason}' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
        _m_pod_ctx="Pod: ${_m_last_pod} (${_m_pod_status}, restarts: ${_m_restarts}, waiting: ${_m_waiting:-None}). "
     fi
     ctx+="Migration Job: ${_last_mig} (Created: ${_m_ts}, Failed: ${_m_failed:-False}, Pods: ${_m_pods}). ${_m_pod_ctx}"
@@ -268,47 +321,7 @@ get_gitlab_blocker_context() {
 
 check_gitlab_post_apply_blocked() {
   # --- Migrations Check ---
-  local _latest_migration_job
-  _latest_migration_job=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get jobs -l "app=migrations" --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp -o jsonpath='{.items[-1:].metadata.name}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-  if [[ -n "$_latest_migration_job" ]]; then
-    local _job_failed _job_creation_ts _job_pods_running _job_pods_pending _now_ts _creation_ts _age
-    _job_failed=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get job "$_latest_migration_job" -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")].status}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-    _job_creation_ts=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get job "$_latest_migration_job" -o jsonpath='{.metadata.creationTimestamp}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-    _job_pods_running=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pods -l "job-name=$_latest_migration_job" -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.status.phase=="Running")]}{.metadata.name}{"\n"}{end}' 2>/dev/null | wc -l | xargs || echo "0")
-    _job_pods_pending=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pods -l "job-name=$_latest_migration_job" -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.status.phase=="Pending")]}{.metadata.name}{"\n"}{end}' 2>/dev/null | wc -l | xargs || echo "0")
-
-    # A. Active Failure Detection
-    local _latest_pod_name=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pods -l "job-name=$_latest_migration_job" --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp -o jsonpath='{.items[-1:].metadata.name}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-    if [[ -n "$_latest_pod_name" ]]; then
-       local _mig_container_status=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get pod "$_latest_pod_name" -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[?(@.name=="migrations")]}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-       local _restarts=$(echo "$_mig_container_status" | python3 -c "import sys, json; data=json.load(sys.stdin); print(data.get('restartCount', 0))" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
-       local _waiting_reason=$(echo "$_mig_container_status" | python3 -c "import sys, json; data=json.load(sys.stdin); print(data.get('state', {}).get('waiting', {}).get('reason', ''))" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
-       local _terminated_exit_code=$(echo "$_mig_container_status" | python3 -c "import sys, json; data=json.load(sys.stdin); print(data.get('state', {}).get('terminated', {}).get('exitCode', ''))" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
-
-       if [[ "$_waiting_reason" == "CrashLoopBackOff" || ( -n "$_terminated_exit_code" && "$_terminated_exit_code" != "0" ) ]]; then
-          log "GitLab migrations job is actively failing: ${_latest_migration_job} (pod: ${_latest_pod_name}, restarts: ${_restarts}, exitCode: ${_terminated_exit_code:-unknown})"
-          local _diag=$(get_gitlab_migrations_diagnostics "$_latest_migration_job")
-          repair_blocked "GitLab migrations job is actively failing" \
-            "Job: ${_latest_migration_job}. Pod: ${_latest_pod_name}. Status: ${_waiting_reason:-Terminated}. ExitCode: ${_terminated_exit_code:-unknown}. Restarts: ${_restarts}.
-Diagnostics:
-${_diag}"
-       fi
-    fi
-
-    # B. Stale Failed Job Repair (Repairs stalled operator)
-    _now_ts=$(date +%s)
-    # Parse ISO8601 timestamp using python for cross-platform reliability
-    _creation_ts=$(python3 -c "from datetime import datetime; print(int(datetime.strptime('$_job_creation_ts'.replace('Z', '+0000'), '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z').timestamp()))" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
-    _age=$(( _now_ts - _creation_ts ))
-
-    if [[ "$_job_failed" == "True" && "$_job_pods_running" == "0" && "$_job_pods_pending" == "0" && $_age -gt 600 ]]; then
-      log "GitLab operator is stalled on stale failed migrations job: ${_latest_migration_job} (age: ${_age}s, no active pods)"
-      log "Deleting stale failed migrations job to trigger repair..."
-      kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" delete job "$_latest_migration_job" --wait=true 2>/dev/null || true
-      kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" delete pods -l "job-name=$_latest_migration_job" --force --grace-period=0 2>/dev/null || true
-      log "Stale migrations job deleted. Operator should recreate it shortly."
-    fi
-  fi
+  check_gitlab_migrations_blocked
 
   # --- Gitaly Check ---
   if [[ "$MODE" == "k8s" ]]; then
@@ -459,13 +472,9 @@ ${_diag}"
                   fi
                fi
             else
-               local _m_job=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get jobs -l "app=migrations" --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp -o jsonpath='{.items[-1:].metadata.name}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-               local _m_failed=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get job "$_m_job" -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")].status}' 2>/dev/null || true)
-               if [[ "$_m_failed" == "True" ]]; then
-                  log "PVC ${pvc_name} not found; operator stalled on failed migrations job: ${_m_job}"
-               else
-                  log "PVC ${pvc_name} not found yet (awaiting operator/provisioner action)..."
-               fi
+               # Check migrations first to fail fast
+               check_gitlab_migrations_blocked
+               log "PVC ${pvc_name} not found yet (awaiting operator/provisioner action)..."
             fi
 
             if (( $(date +%s) - pvc_start > pvc_timeout )); then