diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0459fbd48..33ba5fbb6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@ build/
 *.db
 *.db-wal
 *.db-shm
+!tests/e2e/fixtures/*.db
 telemetry/
diff --git a/tests/e2e/fixtures/build-v14-snapshot.sh b/tests/e2e/fixtures/build-v14-snapshot.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..758b75514
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/fixtures/build-v14-snapshot.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Regenerate tests/e2e/fixtures/v14-snapshot.db from a clean install of
+# aelfrice 1.4.0. Used by scenario #5 of the e2e suite (#334).
+#
+# Idempotent. Run from the repo root or anywhere — paths resolve to the
+# location of this script.
+#
+# The snapshot is checked in as a binary fixture so the e2e suite does
+# not need network access to PyPI at test time. Re-run this script when
+# the v1.4 install path changes (rare) or to verify the fixture is
+# reproducible.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+here="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+out="${here}/v14-snapshot.db"
+build="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "${build}"' EXIT
+
+uv venv --python 3.12 "${build}/.venv" >/dev/null
+uv pip install --python "${build}/.venv/bin/python" --quiet aelfrice==1.4.0
+
+db="${build}/v14.sqlite3"
+aelf="${build}/.venv/bin/aelf"
+
+AELFRICE_DB="${db}" "${aelf}" lock \
+  "Quokkas calibrate the knob carefully on Tuesdays."
+AELFRICE_DB="${db}" "${aelf}" lock \
+  "The aardvark counter resets at midnight."
+AELFRICE_DB="${db}" "${aelf}" lock \
+  "Wibble pickling requires the canonical protocol header bytes."
+
+cp "${db}" "${out}"
+echo "wrote ${out} ($(wc -c <"${out}") bytes)"
diff --git a/tests/e2e/fixtures/v14-snapshot.db b/tests/e2e/fixtures/v14-snapshot.db
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07daa90a8
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/e2e/fixtures/v14-snapshot.db differ
diff --git a/tests/e2e/test_migration_v14_to_current.py b/tests/e2e/test_migration_v14_to_current.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7f5495c6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/test_migration_v14_to_current.py
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+"""E2E scenario #5 (#334): v1.4 fixture DB -> current binary -> reads still work.
+
+Catches: schema-migration regressions on real DB shapes. Unit-test
+suites historically run against fresh-init DBs which exercise only the
+current schema; they do not catch a migration that drops or corrupts
+existing rows. This test opens a real v1.4 snapshot built from the
+v1.4.0 PyPI release (see fixtures/build-v14-snapshot.sh) and asserts:
+
+    1. The current `aelf search` reads the pre-existing locked beliefs.
+    2. The post-migration DB has gained the v1.5/v1.6 tables that the
+       current schema requires (belief_corroborations, ingest_log).
+    3. The pre-existing belief rows survive the upgrade (count + content).
+
+Boundary rule: invokes the binary as installed (subprocess), not via
+in-process imports. The fixture is a binary file, treated read-only —
+each test copies it into the ephemeral DB path before running.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import shutil
+import sqlite3
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Callable
+
+import pytest
+
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.timeout(120)
+
+FIXTURE = Path(__file__).parent / "fixtures" / "v14-snapshot.db"
+
+# The three statements seeded into the v1.4 snapshot by build-v14-snapshot.sh.
+# Hard-coded so a regeneration that changes the seed corpus trips review.
+SEEDED_STATEMENTS = (
+    "Quokkas calibrate the knob carefully on Tuesdays.",
+    "The aardvark counter resets at midnight.",
+    "Wibble pickling requires the canonical protocol header bytes.",
+)
+
+
+def _table_names(db_path: Path) -> set[str]:
+    uri = f"file:{db_path}?mode=ro"
+    with sqlite3.connect(uri, uri=True) as conn:
+        rows = conn.execute(
+            "SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table'"
+        ).fetchall()
+    return {str(r[0]) for r in rows}
+
+
+def _belief_statements(db_path: Path) -> set[str]:
+    uri = f"file:{db_path}?mode=ro"
+    with sqlite3.connect(uri, uri=True) as conn:
+        rows = conn.execute("SELECT content FROM beliefs").fetchall()
+    return {str(r[0]) for r in rows}
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def v14_db(tmp_path: Path) -> Path:
+    """Working copy of the v1.4 snapshot. The fixture file is read-only;
+    each test gets its own mutable copy so the binary can migrate it.
+    """
+    if not FIXTURE.exists():
+        pytest.skip(
+            f"v1.4 snapshot missing at {FIXTURE}; "
+            "run tests/e2e/fixtures/build-v14-snapshot.sh"
+        )
+    dest = tmp_path / "v14-working.sqlite3"
+    shutil.copyfile(FIXTURE, dest)
+    return dest
+
+
+def test_v14_snapshot_seeds_are_searchable_after_migration(
+    installed_aelf,
+    v14_db: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """Current binary opens the v1.4 DB and `aelf search` returns each
+    seeded statement. Failure means migration corrupted the belief rows
+    or broke the FTS index that the search path relies on.
+    """
+    pre_tables = _table_names(v14_db)
+    # The v1.4 snapshot must lack the post-v1.4 tables; if it doesn't,
+    # the fixture is stale and the test is no longer testing migration.
+    assert "belief_corroborations" not in pre_tables, (
+        f"fixture {FIXTURE} already has belief_corroborations; "
+        "regenerate via build-v14-snapshot.sh against aelfrice==1.4.0"
+    )
+    assert "ingest_log" not in pre_tables, (
+        f"fixture {FIXTURE} already has ingest_log; "
+        "regenerate via build-v14-snapshot.sh against aelfrice==1.4.0"
+    )
+
+    # Search distinctive tokens unique to each seeded statement. The
+    # statement bodies appear verbatim in `aelf search` output.
+    for token in ("quokka", "aardvark", "wibble"):
+        proc = subprocess.run(  # noqa: S603 — argv list, not shell
+            [*installed_aelf, "search", token],
+            env={"AELFRICE_DB": str(v14_db), "PATH": _path()},
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=True,
+            timeout=60,
+        )
+        assert token in proc.stdout.lower(), (
+            f"expected {token!r} hit in search output; got:\n{proc.stdout!r}"
+        )
+
+
+def test_v14_migration_grows_tables_and_preserves_belief_rows(
+    installed_aelf,
+    v14_db: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """After the current binary touches the v1.4 DB, the schema must
+    have the post-v1.4 tables (regression on additive migration) and
+    the original belief rows must be intact (regression on content).
+    """
+    pre_statements = _belief_statements(v14_db)
+    assert pre_statements == set(SEEDED_STATEMENTS), (
+        f"fixture {FIXTURE} seed corpus drifted; "
+        f"got {sorted(pre_statements)}"
+    )
+
+    # Any read-write operation triggers the migration on first connect.
+    # `aelf locked` lists locked beliefs and is read-mostly.
+    subprocess.run(  # noqa: S603
+        [*installed_aelf, "locked"],
+        env={"AELFRICE_DB": str(v14_db), "PATH": _path()},
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=True,
+        timeout=60,
+    )
+
+    post_tables = _table_names(v14_db)
+    required_post_tables = {
+        "belief_corroborations",  # v1.5 corroboration tracking
+        "ingest_log",  # v2.0 #205 ingest source-of-truth
+        "belief_versions",  # version-vector backfill
+    }
+    missing = required_post_tables - post_tables
+    assert not missing, (
+        f"migration did not add expected tables: {sorted(missing)}; "
+        f"observed: {sorted(post_tables)}"
+    )
+
+    post_statements = _belief_statements(v14_db)
+    assert post_statements == set(SEEDED_STATEMENTS), (
+        f"migration altered belief rows; pre={sorted(pre_statements)}, "
+        f"post={sorted(post_statements)}"
+    )
+
+
+def _path() -> str:
+    """Minimal PATH for subprocess. `installed_aelf` may be an absolute
+    path or `uv run aelf`; either way the resolver is the parent's PATH.
+    """
+    import os
+
+    return os.environ.get("PATH", "")
+
+
+def test_search_after_migration_returns_seeded_belief(
+    aelf_run: Callable[..., subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]],
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """End-to-end variant using the suite's `aelf_run` fixture, which
+    pins AELFRICE_DB through the same env-overlay path as the other
+    e2e tests. Catches regressions where the migration would succeed
+    via direct argv invocation but fail under the fixture's env shape.
+    """
+    if not FIXTURE.exists():
+        pytest.skip(
+            f"v1.4 snapshot missing at {FIXTURE}; "
+            "run tests/e2e/fixtures/build-v14-snapshot.sh"
+        )
+    # `aelf_run` reads AELFRICE_DB from its own ephemeral_db fixture; we
+    # have to overwrite that target with the v1.4 snapshot before the
+    # first invocation so the migration runs on the real fixture data.
+    db = tmp_path / "aelf.sqlite3"
+    shutil.copyfile(FIXTURE, db)
+
+    result = aelf_run("search", "wibble")
+    assert "wibble" in result.stdout.lower(), (
+        f"expected wibble hit after migration; stdout:\n{result.stdout!r}"
+    )