diff --git a/examples/getstarted/plugins/myplugin/models/Test.settings.json b/examples/getstarted/plugins/myplugin/models/Test.settings.json
index f2295de4fd..7eb42a2db9 100644
--- a/examples/getstarted/plugins/myplugin/models/Test.settings.json
+++ b/examples/getstarted/plugins/myplugin/models/Test.settings.json
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     "type": {
       "type": "string",
       "required": true,
+      "unique": true,
       "configurable": true
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/strapi-hook-bookshelf/lib/buildDatabaseSchema.js b/packages/strapi-hook-bookshelf/lib/buildDatabaseSchema.js
index b8186aaf03..39e900c1ac 100644
--- a/packages/strapi-hook-bookshelf/lib/buildDatabaseSchema.js
+++ b/packages/strapi-hook-bookshelf/lib/buildDatabaseSchema.js
@@ -222,8 +222,15 @@ module.exports = async ({
         await ORM.knex.transaction(trx => rebuildTable(trx));
         await generateIndexes(table);
       } catch (err) {
-        strapi.log.error('Migration failed');
-        strapi.log.error(err);
+        if (err.message.includes('UNIQUE constraint failed')) {
+          strapi.log.error(
+            `Unique constraint fails, make sure to update your data and restart to apply the unique constraint.\n\t- ${err.stack}`
+          );
+        } else {
+          strapi.log.error(`Migration failed`);
+          strapi.log.error(err);
+        }
+
         return false;
       }
     } else {
@@ -250,7 +257,24 @@ module.exports = async ({
         });
       };
 
-      await ORM.knex.transaction(trx => alterTable(trx));
+      try {
+        await ORM.knex.transaction(trx => alterTable(trx));
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (err.code === '23505' && definition.client === 'pg') {
+          strapi.log.error(
+            `Unique constraint fails, make sure to update your data and restart to apply the unique constraint.\n\t- ${err.message}\n\t- ${err.detail}`
+          );
+        } else if (definition.client === 'mysql' && err.errno === 1062) {
+          strapi.log.error(
+            `Unique constraint fails, make sure to update your data and restart to apply the unique constraint.\n\t- ${err.sqlMessage}`
+          );
+        } else {
+          strapi.log.error(`Migration failed`);
+          strapi.log.error(err);
+        }
+
+        return false;
+      }
     }
 
     await storeTable(table, attributes);
diff --git a/packages/strapi-hook-mongoose/lib/mount-models.js b/packages/strapi-hook-mongoose/lib/mount-models.js
index 4a57c82162..657cf0682d 100644
--- a/packages/strapi-hook-mongoose/lib/mount-models.js
+++ b/packages/strapi-hook-mongoose/lib/mount-models.js
@@ -272,6 +272,20 @@ module.exports = ({ models, target, plugin = false }, ctx) => {
       definition.collectionName
     );
 
+    Model.on('index', error => {
+      if (error) {
+        if (error.code === 11000) {
+          strapi.log.error(
+            `Unique constraint fails, make sure to update your data and restart to apply the unique constraint.\n\t- ${error.message}`
+          );
+        } else {
+          strapi.log.error(
+            `An index error happened, it wasn't applied.\n\t- ${error.message}`
+          );
+        }
+      }
+    });
+
     if (!plugin) {
       global[definition.globalName] = Model;
     }