diff --git a/lib/pleroma/release_tasks.ex b/lib/pleroma/release_tasks.ex
index 66a8b627f..7726bc635 100644
--- a/lib/pleroma/release_tasks.ex
+++ b/lib/pleroma/release_tasks.ex
@@ -3,18 +3,21 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
 
 defmodule Pleroma.ReleaseTasks do
+  @repo Pleroma.Repo
+
   def run(args) do
+    Mix.Tasks.Pleroma.Common.start_pleroma()
     [task | args] = String.split(args)
 
     case task do
-      "migrate" -> migrate(args)
+      "migrate" -> migrate()
+      "create" -> create()
+      "rollback" -> rollback(String.to_integer(Enum.at(args, 0)))
       task -> mix_task(task, args)
     end
   end
 
   defp mix_task(task, args) do
-    # Modules are not loaded before application starts
-    Mix.Tasks.Pleroma.Common.start_pleroma()
     {:ok, modules} = :application.get_key(:pleroma, :modules)
 
     module =
@@ -32,7 +35,30 @@ defmodule Pleroma.ReleaseTasks do
     end
   end
 
-  defp migrate(_args) do
-    :noop
+  def migrate do
+    {:ok, _, _} = Ecto.Migrator.with_repo(@repo, &Ecto.Migrator.run(&1, :up, all: true))
+  end
+
+  def rollback(version) do
+    {:ok, _, _} = Ecto.Migrator.with_repo(@repo, &Ecto.Migrator.run(&1, :down, to: version))
+  end
+
+  def create do
+    case @repo.__adapter__.storage_up(@repo.config) do
+      :ok ->
+        IO.puts("The database for #{inspect(@repo)} has been created")
+
+      {:error, :already_up} ->
+        IO.puts("The database for #{inspect(@repo)} has already been created")
+
+      {:error, term} when is_binary(term) ->
+        IO.puts(:stderr, "The database for #{inspect(@repo)} couldn't be created: #{term}")
+
+      {:error, term} ->
+        IO.puts(
+          :stderr,
+          "The database for #{inspect(@repo)} couldn't be created: #{inspect(term)}"
+        )
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/rel/pleroma_ctl b/rel/pleroma_ctl
index 16526af44..6137f19d3 100755
--- a/rel/pleroma_ctl
+++ b/rel/pleroma_ctl
@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # XXX: This should be removed when elixir's releases get custom command support
-SCRIPT=$(readlink -f "$0")
-SCRIPTPATH=$(dirname "$SCRIPT")
-$SCRIPTPATH/pleroma eval 'Pleroma.ReleaseTasks.run("'"$*"'")'
+if [ -z "$1" ] || [ "$1" == "help" ]; then
+  echo "Usage: $(basename "$0") COMMAND [ARGS]
+
+    The known commands are:
+
+        create           Create database schema (needs to be executed only once)
+        migrate          Execute database migrations (needs to be done after updates)
+        rollback         Rollback database migrations (needs to be done before downgrading)
+
+    and any mix tasks under Pleroma namespace, for example \`mix pleroma.user COMMAND\` is
+    equialent to \`$(basename "$0") user COMMAND\`
+"
+else
+  SCRIPT=$(readlink -f "$0")
+  SCRIPTPATH=$(dirname "$SCRIPT")
+  $SCRIPTPATH/pleroma eval 'Pleroma.ReleaseTasks.run("'"$*"'")'
+fi