diff --git a/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.cc b/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.cc
index 1b43023cba9d7..4c8fe0d05fc11 100644
--- a/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.cc
+++ b/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.cc
@@ -355,6 +355,30 @@ static int upgrade_metadata_from_v2(sqlite3* db, std::string* errmsg) {
   return 0;
 }
 
+static int upgrade_metadata_from_v4(sqlite3* db, std::string* errmsg) {
+  auto rc = sqlite3_exec(
+      db,
+      fmt::format(
+          "ALTER TABLE {} ADD COLUMN mtime INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0",
+          BUCKETS_TABLE
+      )
+          .c_str(),
+      nullptr, nullptr, nullptr
+  );
+
+  if (rc != SQLITE_OK) {
+    if (errmsg != nullptr) {
+      *errmsg = fmt::format(
+          "Error creating column 'mtime' in table '{}': {}", BUCKETS_TABLE,
+          sqlite3_errmsg(db)
+      );
+    }
+    return -1;
+  }
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
 static void upgrade_metadata(
     CephContext* cct, StorageRef storage, sqlite3* db
 ) {
@@ -372,6 +396,8 @@ static void upgrade_metadata(
       rc = upgrade_metadata_from_v1(db, &errmsg);
     } else if (cur_version == 2) {
       rc = upgrade_metadata_from_v2(db, &errmsg);
+    } else if (cur_version == 4) {
+      rc = upgrade_metadata_from_v4(db, &errmsg);
     }
 
     if (rc < 0) {
diff --git a/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.h b/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.h
index 715b11bb70e3b..75fcfba8cf592 100644
--- a/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.h
+++ b/src/rgw/driver/sfs/sqlite/dbconn.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 namespace rgw::sal::sfs::sqlite {
 
 /// current db version.
-constexpr int SFS_METADATA_VERSION = 4;
+constexpr int SFS_METADATA_VERSION = 5;
 /// minimum required version to upgrade db.
 constexpr int SFS_METADATA_MIN_VERSION = 4;
 
@@ -139,7 +139,9 @@ inline auto _make_storage(const std::string& path) {
           sqlite_orm::make_column("deleted", &DBBucket::deleted),
           sqlite_orm::make_column("bucket_attrs", &DBBucket::bucket_attrs),
           sqlite_orm::make_column("object_lock", &DBBucket::object_lock),
-          sqlite_orm::make_column("mtime", &DBBucket::mtime),
+          sqlite_orm::make_column(
+              "mtime", &DBBucket::mtime, sqlite_orm::default_value(0)
+          ),
           sqlite_orm::foreign_key(&DBBucket::owner_id)
               .references(&DBUser::user_id)
       ),