diff --git a/charts/openfga/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/openfga/templates/deployment.yaml
index 5af7dfb..efcbf2c 100644
--- a/charts/openfga/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/openfga/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ spec:
         {{- toYaml .Values.podSecurityContext | nindent 8 }}
       {{ if or (and (has .Values.datastore.engine (list "postgres" "mysql")) .Values.datastore.applyMigrations .Values.datastore.waitForMigrations) .Values.extraInitContainers }}
       initContainers:
-        {{- if and (has .Values.datastore.engine (list "postgres" "mysql")) .Values.datastore.applyMigrations .Values.datastore.waitForMigrations }}
+        {{- if and (has .Values.datastore.engine (list "postgres" "mysql")) .Values.datastore.applyMigrations .Values.datastore.waitForMigrations (eq .Values.datastore.migrationType "job") }}
         - name: wait-for-migration
           securityContext:
             {{- toYaml .Values.securityContext | nindent 12 }}
@@ -46,6 +46,44 @@ spec:
           resources:
             {{- toYaml .Values.datastore.migrations.resources | nindent 12 }}
         {{- end }}
+        {{- if and (has .Values.datastore.engine (list "postgres" "mysql")) (eq .Values.datastore.migrationType "initContainer") }}
+        - name: migrate-database
+          securityContext:
+            {{- toYaml .Values.securityContext | nindent 12 }}
+          image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}"
+          args: [ "migrate" ]
+          env:
+            {{- if .Values.datastore.engine }}
+            - name: OPENFGA_DATASTORE_ENGINE
+              value: "{{ .Values.datastore.engine }}"
+            {{- end }}
+            {{- if .Values.datastore.uri }}
+            - name: OPENFGA_DATASTORE_URI
+              value: "{{ .Values.datastore.uri }}"
+            {{- else if .Values.datastore.uriSecret }}
+            - name: OPENFGA_DATASTORE_URI
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: "{{ .Values.datastore.uriSecret }}"
+                  key: "uri"
+            {{- end }}
+            {{- if .Values.migrate.timeout }}
+            - name: OPENFGA_TIMEOUT
+              value: "{{ .Values.migrate.timeout }}"
+            {{- end }}
+            {{- with .Values.extraEnvVars }}
+              {{- toYaml . | nindent 12 }}
+            {{- end }}
+          resources:
+            {{- toYaml .Values.datastore.migrations.resources | nindent 12 }}
+          {{- with .Values.migrate.extraVolumeMounts }}
+          volumeMounts:
+            {{- toYaml . | nindent 12 }}
+          {{- end }}
+          {{- if .Values.migrate.sidecars }}
+          {{- include "common.tplvalues.render" ( dict "value" .Values.migrate.sidecars "context" $) | nindent 8 }}
+          {{- end }}
+        {{- end }}
         {{- with .Values.extraInitContainers }}
           {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
         {{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/openfga/templates/job.yaml b/charts/openfga/templates/job.yaml
index 3ec2595..a7a670d 100644
--- a/charts/openfga/templates/job.yaml
+++ b/charts/openfga/templates/job.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{{- if and (has .Values.datastore.engine (list "postgres" "mysql")) .Values.datastore.applyMigrations -}}
+{{- if and (has .Values.datastore.engine (list "postgres" "mysql")) .Values.datastore.applyMigrations (eq .Values.datastore.migrationType "job") -}}
 apiVersion: batch/v1
 kind: Job
 metadata:
diff --git a/charts/openfga/values.schema.json b/charts/openfga/values.schema.json
index d002147..fd3ad70 100644
--- a/charts/openfga/values.schema.json
+++ b/charts/openfga/values.schema.json
@@ -329,9 +329,21 @@
                 },
                 "applyMigrations": {
                     "type": "boolean",
-                    "description": "enable/disable the job that runs migrations in the datastore",
+                    "description": "enable/disable the running of migrations in the datastore",
                     "default": true
                 },
+                "migrationType": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ],
+                    "description": "how the migrations will be run",
+                    "default": "job",
+                    "enum": [
+                        "job",
+                        "initContainer"
+                    ]
+                },
                 "waitForMigrations": {
                     "type": "boolean",
                     "description": "wait for migrations to complete before starting the server",