Celery After celery lib upgrade to 5.3.3, get sql

The Fix

pip install celery==5.3.4

Based on closed celery/celery issue #8470 · PR/commit linked

Production note: This usually shows up under retries/timeouts. Treat it as a side-effect risk until you can verify behavior with a canary + real traffic.

Jump to Verify Open PR/Commit

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ class Task(ResultModelBase):
                           onupdate=datetime.utcnow, nullable=True)
     traceback = sa.Column(sa.Text, nullable=True)
+    children = sa.Column(PickleType, nullable=True)
 
     def __init__(self, task_id):

repro.py

sqlalchemy.exc.ProgrammingError: (psycopg2.errors.UndefinedColumn) column celery_taskmeta.children does not exist
LINE 1: ...ry_taskmeta.date_done, celery_taskmeta.traceback, celery_tas...
                                                             ^
[SQL: SELECT celery_taskmeta.id, celery_taskmeta.task_id, celery_taskmeta.status, celery_taskmeta.result, celery_taskmeta.date_done, celery_taskmeta.traceback, celery_taskmeta.children 
FROM celery_taskmeta

verify

Re-run the minimal reproduction on your broken version, then apply the fix and re-run.

fix.md

Option A — Upgrade to fixed release\npip install celery==5.3.4\nWhen NOT to use: Do not apply this fix if the database schema is not updated accordingly.\n\n

Why This Fix Works in Production

Trigger: sqlalchemy.exc.ProgrammingError: (psycopg2.errors.UndefinedColumn) column celery_taskmeta.children does not exist
Mechanism: Attempts to fix an issue related to storing children with the database backend, which may resolve the SQL exception encountered after upgrading to Celery 5.3.3.
Why the fix works: Attempts to fix an issue related to storing children with the database backend, which may resolve the SQL exception encountered after upgrading to Celery 5.3.3. (first fixed release: 5.3.4).

Production impact:

If left unfixed, the same config can fail only in production (env differences), causing startup failures or partial feature outages.

Why This Breaks in Prod

Shows up under Python 3.8 in real deployments (not just unit tests).
Surfaces as: sqlalchemy.exc.ProgrammingError: (psycopg2.errors.UndefinedColumn) column celery_taskmeta.children does not exist

Proof / Evidence

GitHub issue: #8470
Fix PR: https://github.com/celery/celery/pull/8338
First fixed release: 5.3.4
Reproduced locally: No (not executed)
Last verified: 2026-02-09
Confidence: 0.85
Did this fix it?: Yes (upstream fix exists)
Own content ratio: 0.42

Discussion

High-signal excerpts from the issue thread (symptoms, repros, edge-cases).

Jump to Sources Open on GitHub

“Rollback to 5.3.1 version resolved the exception.”

@Pokerface9711 · 2023-09-01 · confirmation · source

“this should be fixed in 5.3.4/5.3.5 release already, right? @Nusnus we did some revert”

@auvipy · 2023-11-13 · confirmation · source

“> since that introduced a new model field, that field need to be applied on DB as well! missing migrations strikes here most probably! This…”

@Nusnus · 2023-09-01 · source

“yes I learnt from PyPI today that we can't release a same version again! we yanked them and will release 5.3.4 very soon.”

@auvipy · 2023-09-03 · source

Failure Signature (Search String)

sqlalchemy.exc.ProgrammingError: (psycopg2.errors.UndefinedColumn) column celery_taskmeta.children does not exist

Error Message

Stack trace

error.txt

Error Message
-------------
sqlalchemy.exc.ProgrammingError: (psycopg2.errors.UndefinedColumn) column celery_taskmeta.children does not exist
LINE 1: ..._taskmeta.traceback AS celery_taskmeta_traceback, celery_tas...

Stack trace

error.txt

Error Message
-------------
sqlalchemy.exc.ProgrammingError: (psycopg2.errors.UndefinedColumn) column celery_taskmeta.children does not exist
LINE 1: ...ry_taskmeta.date_done, celery_taskmeta.traceback, celery_tas...
                                                             ^
[SQL: SELECT celery_taskmeta.id, celery_taskmeta.task_id, celery_taskmeta.status, celery_taskmeta.result, celery_taskmeta.date_done, celery_taskmeta.traceback, celery_taskmeta.children 
FROM celery_taskmeta

Minimal Reproduction

repro.py

sqlalchemy.exc.ProgrammingError: (psycopg2.errors.UndefinedColumn) column celery_taskmeta.children does not exist
LINE 1: ...ry_taskmeta.date_done, celery_taskmeta.traceback, celery_tas...
                                                             ^
[SQL: SELECT celery_taskmeta.id, celery_taskmeta.task_id, celery_taskmeta.status, celery_taskmeta.result, celery_taskmeta.date_done, celery_taskmeta.traceback, celery_taskmeta.children 
FROM celery_taskmeta

Environment

Python: 3.8

Fix Options (Details)

Option A — Upgrade to fixed release Safe default (recommended)

pip install celery==5.3.4

When NOT to use: Do not apply this fix if the database schema is not updated accordingly.

Use when you can deploy the upstream fix. It is usually lower-risk than long-lived workarounds.

Fix reference: https://github.com/celery/celery/pull/8338

First fixed release: 5.3.4

Last verified: 2026-02-09. Validate in your environment.

When NOT to Use This Fix

Do not apply this fix if the database schema is not updated accordingly.

Verify Fix

verify

Re-run the minimal reproduction on your broken version, then apply the fix and re-run.

Did This Fix Work in Your Case?

Quick signal helps us prioritize which fixes to verify and improve.

Prevention

Capture the exact failing error string in logs and tests so you can reproduce via a minimal script.
Pin production dependencies and upgrade only with a reproducible test that hits the failing path.

Version Compatibility Table

Version	Status
5.3.4	Fixed

Related Issues

No related fixes found.

Cluster: celery:configuration-error Celery hub Celery best practices All hubs All clusters

Related clusters: Data consistency Duplicates Duplicate processing

Sources

We don’t republish the full GitHub discussion text. Use the links above for context.

Celery After celery lib upgrade to 5.3.3, get sql exception. (Fix)