diff --git a/app/Models/Settings.php b/app/Models/Settings.php
index 5c028faa0..773ec3ee5 100644
--- a/app/Models/Settings.php
+++ b/app/Models/Settings.php
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ declare(strict_types=1);
 namespace App\Models;
 
 use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
+use Illuminate\Database\QueryException;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
 
 /**
@@ -149,12 +150,33 @@ class Settings extends Model
 
     public static function settingValue(mixed $setting): mixed
     {
-        $value = self::query()->where('name', $setting)->value('value');
+        try {
+            $value = self::query()->where('name', $setting)->value('value');
+        } catch (QueryException $e) {
+            // The settings table does not exist yet on a fresh install. Console
+            // boot eagerly builds commands whose service constructors read
+            // settings, so this must degrade gracefully instead of crashing.
+            if (! self::isMissingTableError($e)) {
+                throw $e;
+            }
+
+            return null;
+        }
 
         // Apply the same conversion logic as the accessor
         return self::convertValue($value);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Determine if the exception was caused by a missing table.
+     */
+    private static function isMissingTableError(QueryException $e): bool
+    {
+        // MySQL/MariaDB: 42S02, PostgreSQL: 42P01, SQLite: HY000 with message.
+        return in_array($e->getCode(), ['42S02', '42P01'], true)
+            || ($e->getCode() === 'HY000' && str_contains($e->getMessage(), 'no such table'));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Convert setting value: numeric strings to numbers, preserve empty strings.
      *
diff --git a/tests/Feature/SettingsMissingTableTest.php b/tests/Feature/SettingsMissingTableTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d5e01403
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Feature/SettingsMissingTableTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Tests\Feature;
+
+use App\Models\Settings;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Console\Kernel;
+use Illuminate\Database\QueryException;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
+use PDO;
+use Tests\TestCase;
+
+/**
+ * On a fresh install the settings table does not exist yet, while console boot
+ * eagerly builds commands whose service constructors read settings. The model
+ * must degrade to null instead of crashing (see NNTmux/newznab-tmux#1866).
+ */
+final class SettingsMissingTableTest extends TestCase
+{
+    private string $databasePath = '';
+
+    /**
+     * @var array<string, string|false>
+     */
+    private array $originalEnvironment = [];
+
+    public function createApplication()
+    {
+        $this->databasePath = sys_get_temp_dir().'/nntmux-settings-missing-table-test.sqlite';
+
+        $this->originalEnvironment = [
+            'APP_ENV' => getenv('APP_ENV'),
+            'DB_CONNECTION' => getenv('DB_CONNECTION'),
+            'DB_DATABASE' => getenv('DB_DATABASE'),
+        ];
+
+        if (file_exists($this->databasePath)) {
+            unlink($this->databasePath);
+        }
+
+        // Deliberately create an empty database file: no settings table.
+        new PDO('sqlite:'.$this->databasePath);
+
+        $this->setEnvironmentValue('APP_ENV', 'testing');
+        $this->setEnvironmentValue('DB_CONNECTION', 'sqlite');
+        $this->setEnvironmentValue('DB_DATABASE', $this->databasePath);
+
+        $app = require __DIR__.'/../../bootstrap/app.php';
+
+        $app->make(Kernel::class)->bootstrap();
+
+        return $app;
+    }
+
+    protected function setUp(): void
+    {
+        parent::setUp();
+
+        config([
+            'database.default' => 'sqlite',
+            'database.connections.sqlite.database' => $this->databasePath,
+        ]);
+    }
+
+    protected function tearDown(): void
+    {
+        if ($this->databasePath !== '' && file_exists($this->databasePath)) {
+            unlink($this->databasePath);
+        }
+
+        parent::tearDown();
+
+        foreach ($this->originalEnvironment as $key => $value) {
+            $this->setEnvironmentValue($key, $value === false ? null : $value);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function test_setting_value_returns_null_when_settings_table_is_missing(): void
+    {
+        $this->assertNull(Settings::settingValue('categorizeforeign'));
+    }
+
+    public function test_setting_value_returns_converted_value_when_table_exists(): void
+    {
+        $pdo = new PDO('sqlite:'.$this->databasePath);
+        $pdo->exec('CREATE TABLE settings (name VARCHAR PRIMARY KEY, value TEXT NULL)');
+        $pdo->exec("INSERT INTO settings (name, value) VALUES ('delaytime', '42')");
+
+        $this->assertSame(42, Settings::settingValue('delaytime'));
+    }
+
+    public function test_setting_value_rethrows_unrelated_query_errors(): void
+    {
+        $pdo = new PDO('sqlite:'.$this->databasePath);
+        $pdo->exec('CREATE TABLE settings (name VARCHAR PRIMARY KEY, value TEXT NULL)');
+        $pdo->exec("INSERT INTO settings (name, value) VALUES ('delaytime', '5')");
+
+        // A locked database must not be masked as a missing table.
+        // Keep the default 60s sqlite busy timeout from slowing the suite down.
+        DB::connection()->getPdo()->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_TIMEOUT, 1);
+
+        $locker = new PDO('sqlite:'.$this->databasePath);
+        $locker->exec('BEGIN EXCLUSIVE TRANSACTION');
+        $locker->exec("INSERT INTO settings (name, value) VALUES ('lockholder', '1')");
+
+        try {
+            $this->expectException(QueryException::class);
+
+            Settings::settingValue('delaytime');
+        } finally {
+            $locker->exec('ROLLBACK');
+        }
+    }
+
+    private function setEnvironmentValue(string $key, ?string $value): void
+    {
+        if ($value === null) {
+            putenv($key);
+            unset($_ENV[$key], $_SERVER[$key]);
+
+            return;
+        }
+
+        putenv($key.'='.$value);
+        $_ENV[$key] = $value;
+        $_SERVER[$key] = $value;
+    }
+}