diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/MigrateVerbsToPermissionRoles.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/MigrateVerbsToPermissionRoles.java
index fc2dec12a6..f33f4200c4 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/MigrateVerbsToPermissionRoles.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/MigrateVerbsToPermissionRoles.java
@@ -148,8 +148,6 @@ public class MigrateVerbsToPermissionRoles implements UpdateStep {
     private String name;
     @XmlElement(name = "permission")
     private final Set<RepositoryPermission> permissions = new HashSet<>();
-    @XmlElement(name = "public")
-    private boolean publicReadable = false;
     private boolean archived = false;
     private String type;
   }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/V1RepositoryHelper.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/V1RepositoryHelper.java
index 43ddb2671b..10cf343cff 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/V1RepositoryHelper.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/V1RepositoryHelper.java
@@ -19,21 +19,26 @@ import static java.util.Optional.of;
 
 class V1RepositoryHelper {
 
-  static File resolveV1File(SCMContextProvider contextProvider, String filename) {
-    return contextProvider
-      .resolve(
-        Paths.get(StoreConstants.CONFIG_DIRECTORY_NAME).resolve(filename)
-      ).toFile();
+  static Optional<File> resolveV1File(SCMContextProvider contextProvider, String filename) {
+    File v1XmlFile = contextProvider.resolve(Paths.get(StoreConstants.CONFIG_DIRECTORY_NAME).resolve(filename)).toFile();
+    if (v1XmlFile.exists()) {
+      return Optional.of(v1XmlFile);
+    }
+    return Optional.empty();
   }
 
   static Optional<V1RepositoryDatabase> readV1Database(SCMContextProvider contextProvider, String filename) throws JAXBException {
     JAXBContext jaxbContext = JAXBContext.newInstance(V1RepositoryDatabase.class);
-    Object unmarshal = jaxbContext.createUnmarshaller().unmarshal(resolveV1File(contextProvider, filename));
-    if (unmarshal instanceof V1RepositoryHelper.V1RepositoryDatabase) {
-      return of((V1RepositoryHelper.V1RepositoryDatabase) unmarshal);
-    } else {
-      return empty();
+    Optional<File> file = resolveV1File(contextProvider, filename);
+    if (file.isPresent()) {
+      Object unmarshal = jaxbContext.createUnmarshaller().unmarshal(file.get());
+      if (unmarshal instanceof V1RepositoryHelper.V1RepositoryDatabase) {
+        return of((V1RepositoryHelper.V1RepositoryDatabase) unmarshal);
+      } else {
+        return empty();
+      }
     }
+    return empty();
   }
 
   static class RepositoryList {
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/XmlRepositoryV1UpdateStep.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/XmlRepositoryV1UpdateStep.java
index 6230919503..dd1284492b 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/XmlRepositoryV1UpdateStep.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/repository/XmlRepositoryV1UpdateStep.java
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ public class XmlRepositoryV1UpdateStep implements CoreUpdateStep {
 
   @Override
   public void doUpdate() throws JAXBException {
-    if (!resolveV1File(contextProvider, V1_REPOSITORY_FILENAME).exists()) {
+    if (!resolveV1File(contextProvider, V1_REPOSITORY_FILENAME).isPresent()) {
       LOG.info("no v1 repositories database file found");
       return;
     }
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public class XmlRepositoryV1UpdateStep implements CoreUpdateStep {
   }
 
   public List<V1Repository> getRepositoriesWithoutMigrationStrategies() {
-    if (!resolveV1File(contextProvider, V1_REPOSITORY_FILENAME).exists()) {
+    if (!resolveV1File(contextProvider, V1_REPOSITORY_FILENAME).isPresent()) {
       LOG.info("no v1 repositories database file found");
       return emptyList();
     }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/it/RepositorySimplePermissionITCase.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/it/RepositorySimplePermissionITCase.java
index 7900f11096..5a0ca8fc38 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/it/RepositorySimplePermissionITCase.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/it/RepositorySimplePermissionITCase.java
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ public class RepositorySimplePermissionITCase
 
     repository.setName("test-repo");
     repository.setType("git");
-//    repository.setPublicReadable(false);
 
     ScmClient client = createAdminClient();