diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3f5dfd4..2153c3c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "conf",
-	"version": "13.0.0",
+	"version": "13.0.1",
 	"description": "Simple config handling for your app or module",
 	"license": "MIT",
 	"repository": "sindresorhus/conf",
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 6669b43..2af0d54 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ Type: `object`
 
 [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org) to validate your config data.
 
-Under the hood, the JSON Schema validator [ajv](https://github.com/epoberezkin/ajv) is used to validate your config. We use [JSON Schema draft-07](https://json-schema.org/latest/json-schema-validation.html) and support all [validation keywords](https://github.com/epoberezkin/ajv/blob/master/KEYWORDS.md) and [formats](https://github.com/epoberezkin/ajv#formats).
+Under the hood, the JSON Schema validator [ajv](https://ajv.js.org/json-schema.html) is used to validate your config. We use [JSON Schema draft-2020-12](https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/release-notes) and support all validation keywords and formats.
 
 You should define your schema as an object where each key is the name of your data's property and each value is a JSON schema used to validate that property. See more [here](https://json-schema.org/understanding-json-schema/reference/object.html#properties).
 
diff --git a/source/index.ts b/source/index.ts
index 7b5b62c..692815a 100644
--- a/source/index.ts
+++ b/source/index.ts
@@ -137,6 +137,16 @@ export default class Conf<T extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, unknown
 
 		const fileStore = this.store;
 		const store = Object.assign(createPlainObject(), options.defaults, fileStore);
+
+		if (options.migrations) {
+			if (!options.projectVersion) {
+				throw new Error('Please specify the `projectVersion` option.');
+			}
+
+			this._migrate(options.migrations, options.projectVersion, options.beforeEachMigration);
+		}
+
+		// We defer validation until after migrations are applied so that the store can be updated to the current schema.
 		this._validate(store);
 
 		try {
@@ -148,14 +158,6 @@ export default class Conf<T extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, unknown
 		if (options.watch) {
 			this._watch();
 		}
-
-		if (options.migrations) {
-			if (!options.projectVersion) {
-				throw new Error('Please specify the `projectVersion` option.');
-			}
-
-			this._migrate(options.migrations, options.projectVersion, options.beforeEachMigration);
-		}
 	}
 
 	/**