diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/DepotMarshaller.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/DepotMarshaller.java
index 0697d21..c1ec6d3 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/DepotMarshaller.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/DepotMarshaller.java
@@ -705,9 +705,9 @@ public class DepotMarshaller<T extends PersistentRecord>
                         getTableName() + "_" + idx.name(), idx.unique());
                 }
 
-                // initialize our value generators
+                // create our value generators
                 for (ValueGenerator vg : _valueGenerators.values()) {
-                    vg.init(conn, liaison);
+                    vg.create(conn, liaison);
                 }
 
                 // and its full text search indexes
@@ -744,6 +744,13 @@ public class DepotMarshaller<T extends PersistentRecord>
         // this is a little silly, but we need a copy for name disambiguation later
         Set<String> indicesCopy = new HashSet<String>(metaData.indexColumns.keySet());
 
+        // figure out which columns we have in the table now, so that when all is said and done we
+        // can see what new columns we have in the table and run the creation code for any value
+        // generators that are defined on those columns (we can't just track the columns we add in
+        // our automatic migrations because someone might register custom migrations that add
+        // columns specially)
+        Set<String> preMigrateColumns = new HashSet<String>(metaData.tableColumns);
+
         // add any missing columns
         for (String fname : _columnFields) {
             final FieldMarshaller<?> fmarsh = _fields.get(fname);
@@ -896,14 +903,31 @@ public class DepotMarshaller<T extends PersistentRecord>
             }
         }
 
-        // last of all (re-)initialize our value generators, since one might've been added
-        if (_valueGenerators.size() > 0) {
+        // now reload our table metadata so that we can see what columns we have now
+        metaData = TableMetaData.load(ctx, getTableName());
+
+        // initialize value generators for any columns that have been newly added
+        for (String column : metaData.tableColumns) {
+            if (preMigrateColumns.contains(column)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            // see if we have a value generator for this new column
+            final ValueGenerator valgen = _valueGenerators.get(column);
+            if (valgen == null) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            // note: if someone renames a column that has an identity value generator, things will
+            // break because Postgres automatically creates a table_column_seq sequence that is
+            // used to generate values for that column and god knows what happens when that is
+            // renamed; plus we're potentially going to try to reinitialize it if it has a non-zero
+            // initialValue which will use the new column name to obtain the sequence name which
+            // ain't going to work either; we punt!
             ctx.invoke(new Modifier() {
                 @Override
                 public int invoke (Connection conn, DatabaseLiaison liaison) throws SQLException {
-                    for (ValueGenerator vg : _valueGenerators.values()) {
-                        vg.init(conn, liaison);
-                    }
+                    valgen.create(conn, liaison);
                     return 0;
                 }
             });
diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/IdentityValueGenerator.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/IdentityValueGenerator.java
index 9870661..84d7f45 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/IdentityValueGenerator.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/IdentityValueGenerator.java
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ public class IdentityValueGenerator extends ValueGenerator
     }
 
     @Override // from ValueGenerator
-    public void init (Connection conn, DatabaseLiaison liaison)
+    public void create (Connection conn, DatabaseLiaison liaison)
         throws SQLException
     {
-        // identity value generators are auto-created by the database
+        liaison.createGenerator(conn, _dm.getTableName(), _fm.getColumnName(), _initialValue);
     }
 
     @Override // from ValueGenerator
diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/TableValueGenerator.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/TableValueGenerator.java
index c060630..602c71a 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/TableValueGenerator.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/TableValueGenerator.java
@@ -54,14 +54,9 @@ public class TableValueGenerator extends ValueGenerator
     }
 
     @Override // from ValueGenerator
-    public void init (Connection conn, DatabaseLiaison liaison)
+    public void create (Connection conn, DatabaseLiaison liaison)
         throws SQLException
     {
-        if (_initialized) {
-            return;
-        }
-        _initialized = true;
-
         // make sure our table exists
         liaison.createTableIfMissing(
             conn, _valueTable,
@@ -172,7 +167,6 @@ public class TableValueGenerator extends ValueGenerator
         return value;
     }
 
-    protected boolean _initialized;
     protected String _valueTable;
     protected String _pkColumnName;
     protected String _pkColumnValue;
diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/ValueGenerator.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/ValueGenerator.java
index c8bca36..e2e75f0 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/ValueGenerator.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/ValueGenerator.java
@@ -52,9 +52,13 @@ public abstract class ValueGenerator
     public abstract boolean isPostFactum ();
 
     /**
-     * Ensures the generator is prepared for operation, creating it (only) if necessary.
+     * Ensures the generator is prepared for operation, creating it if necessary. Care is taken to
+     * only run this the first time a column is created. However, if a column with a value
+     * generator is renamed, we can't distinguish that from a newly created column and we call this
+     * method again on the renamed column. If it's possible to not fail in that circumstance, try
+     * to avoid doing so.
      */
-    public abstract void init (Connection conn, DatabaseLiaison liaison)
+    public abstract void create (Connection conn, DatabaseLiaison liaison)
         throws SQLException;
 
     /**