diff --git a/database/migrations/2026_08_13_001652_normalize_and_optimize_releases_table.php b/database/migrations/2026_08_13_001652_normalize_and_optimize_releases_table.php
index 2d147f409..ab48b4e6f 100644
--- a/database/migrations/2026_08_13_001652_normalize_and_optimize_releases_table.php
+++ b/database/migrations/2026_08_13_001652_normalize_and_optimize_releases_table.php
@@ -50,6 +50,19 @@ return new class extends Migration
         'ix_releases_nzb_creation_queue',
     ];
 
+    /**
+     * Narrowed to `CHAR(32) ascii` as part of this rebuild rather than in a
+     * follow-up migration: the `guid` charset change already forces
+     * `ALGORITHM=COPY`, so folding these in costs nothing, whereas a separate
+     * migration would force a second full table rebuild.
+     *
+     * @var list<string>
+     */
+    private const array CLAIM_TOKEN_COLUMNS = [
+        'nzb_creation_claim_token',
+        'additional_pp_claim_token',
+    ];
+
     public function up(): void
     {
         if (! Schema::hasTable('releases')) {
@@ -275,6 +288,11 @@ return new class extends Migration
 
         $specifications[] = 'MODIFY `guid` CHAR(36) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci NOT NULL';
         $specifications[] = "MODIFY `leftguid` CHAR(1) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci NOT NULL COMMENT 'The first letter of the release guid'";
+        foreach (self::CLAIM_TOKEN_COLUMNS as $column) {
+            if (Schema::hasColumn('releases', $column)) {
+                $specifications[] = 'MODIFY `'.$column.'` CHAR(32) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci NULL';
+            }
+        }
         foreach (self::REMOVED_RELEASE_COLUMNS as $column) {
             if (Schema::hasColumn('releases', $column)) {
                 $specifications[] = 'DROP COLUMN `'.$column.'`';
@@ -286,7 +304,7 @@ return new class extends Migration
             'ADD UNIQUE INDEX `ux_releases_guid` (`guid`)',
             'ADD INDEX `ix_releases_predb_id` (`predb_id`)',
             'ADD INDEX `ix_releases_size` (`size`)',
-            'ADD INDEX `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue` (`passwordstatus`, `haspreview`, `nzbstatus`, `leftguid`, `postdate` DESC, `id`, `additional_pp_claimed_at`)',
+            'ADD INDEX `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue` (`passwordstatus`, `haspreview`, `nzbstatus`, `leftguid`, `postdate` DESC, `id`, `additional_pp_claimed_at`, `size`)',
             'ADD INDEX `ix_releases_nzb_creation_group_queue` (`nzbstatus`, `groups_id`, `postdate` DESC, `id`, `nzb_creation_claimed_at`)',
             'ADD INDEX `ix_releases_nzb_creation_global_queue` (`nzbstatus`, `postdate` DESC, `id`, `nzb_creation_claimed_at`)',
         ];
@@ -311,7 +329,7 @@ return new class extends Migration
             $table->index('predb_id', 'ix_releases_predb_id');
             $table->index('size', 'ix_releases_size');
             $table->index(
-                ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at'],
+                ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at', 'size'],
                 'ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue',
             );
             $table->index(
@@ -345,6 +363,8 @@ return new class extends Migration
             ...$specifications,
             'MODIFY `guid` VARCHAR(40) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL',
             "MODIFY `leftguid` CHAR(1) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL COMMENT 'The first letter of the release guid'",
+            'MODIFY `nzb_creation_claim_token` VARCHAR(64) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NULL',
+            'MODIFY `additional_pp_claim_token` VARCHAR(64) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NULL',
             'ADD COLUMN `updatetime` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP AFTER `adddate`',
             'ADD COLUMN `gid` VARCHAR(32) NULL AFTER `updatetime`',
             'ADD COLUMN `source` SMALLINT UNSIGNED NULL',
diff --git a/database/migrations/2026_08_14_121946_optimize_releases_claim_tokens_and_pp_index.php b/database/migrations/2026_08_14_121946_optimize_releases_claim_tokens_and_pp_index.php
index 48167385d..4f43657b5 100644
--- a/database/migrations/2026_08_14_121946_optimize_releases_claim_tokens_and_pp_index.php
+++ b/database/migrations/2026_08_14_121946_optimize_releases_claim_tokens_and_pp_index.php
@@ -9,22 +9,30 @@ use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
 
 /**
- * Follow-up to the releases normalization rebuild.
+ * Catch-up migration for installs that already ran
+ * `2026_08_13_001652_normalize_and_optimize_releases_table` before it was
+ * extended to cover these two changes:
  *
- * 1. Appends `size` to `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue`. Every additional
+ * 1. `size` appended to `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue`. Every additional
  *    post-processing candidate query filters `size > min AND size < max`
- *    ({@see AdditionalCandidateQuery::applyPredicates()}),
- *    but `size` was not in the index, so each candidate that later failed the
- *    size filter still cost a primary key lookup. Appending it after the
- *    existing columns keeps the equality prefix and the `postdate DESC`
- *    ordering intact while enabling index condition pushdown.
- * 2. Narrows both claim tokens to `CHAR(32) ascii`. They only ever hold
+ *    ({@see AdditionalCandidateQuery::applyPredicates()}), but `size` was not in
+ *    the index, so each candidate that later failed the size filter still cost a
+ *    primary key lookup. Appending it after the existing columns keeps the
+ *    equality prefix and the `postdate DESC` ordering intact while enabling
+ *    index condition pushdown.
+ * 2. Both claim tokens narrowed to `CHAR(32) ascii`. They only ever hold
  *    `bin2hex(random_bytes(16))`, so `VARCHAR(64)` utf8mb4 reserved four bytes
  *    per character for hex digits.
  *
- * `releases.imdbid` is deliberately left alone: it joins `movieinfo.imdbid`,
- * and changing the charset on one side only would force an implicit conversion
- * that disables index usage on that join.
+ * Both now happen inside the normalization rebuild's single `ALTER`, because the
+ * claim token type change is `ALGORITHM=COPY` only and would otherwise force a
+ * second full table rebuild. This migration therefore no-ops on any install that
+ * ran the merged version, and `down()` is intentionally empty: the normalization
+ * migration's own `down()` restores the legacy column types and index shape.
+ *
+ * `releases.imdbid` is deliberately left alone: it joins `movieinfo.imdbid`, and
+ * changing the charset on one side only would force an implicit conversion that
+ * disables index usage on that join.
  */
 return new class extends Migration
 {
@@ -42,17 +50,24 @@ return new class extends Migration
             return;
         }
 
+        $indexNeedsSize = ! $this->ppClaimIndexCoversSize();
+        $columnsToNarrow = $this->claimTokenColumnsToNarrow();
+
+        if (! $indexNeedsSize && $columnsToNarrow === []) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         if ($this->isMariaDbOrMySql()) {
             $specifications = [];
-            if ($this->indexExists(self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX)) {
-                $specifications[] = 'DROP INDEX `'.self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX.'`';
-            }
-            $specifications[] = 'ADD INDEX `'.self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX.'` (`passwordstatus`, `haspreview`, `nzbstatus`,'
-                .' `leftguid`, `postdate` DESC, `id`, `additional_pp_claimed_at`, `size`)';
-            foreach (self::CLAIM_TOKEN_COLUMNS as $column) {
-                if (Schema::hasColumn('releases', $column)) {
-                    $specifications[] = 'MODIFY `'.$column.'` CHAR(32) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci NULL';
+            if ($indexNeedsSize) {
+                if ($this->indexExists(self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX)) {
+                    $specifications[] = 'DROP INDEX `'.self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX.'`';
                 }
+                $specifications[] = 'ADD INDEX `'.self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX.'` (`passwordstatus`, `haspreview`, `nzbstatus`,'
+                    .' `leftguid`, `postdate` DESC, `id`, `additional_pp_claimed_at`, `size`)';
+            }
+            foreach ($columnsToNarrow as $column) {
+                $specifications[] = 'MODIFY `'.$column.'` CHAR(32) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci NULL';
             }
 
             DB::statement('ALTER TABLE '.$this->table('releases').' '.implode(', ', $specifications));
@@ -60,6 +75,10 @@ return new class extends Migration
             return;
         }
 
+        if (! $indexNeedsSize) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         Schema::table('releases', function (Blueprint $table): void {
             if ($this->indexExists(self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX)) {
                 $table->dropIndex(self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX);
@@ -71,39 +90,44 @@ return new class extends Migration
         });
     }
 
-    public function down(): void
+    /**
+     * Intentionally empty. The normalization migration owns both changes now, and
+     * its `down()` restores the legacy column types and index definition. Undoing
+     * them here as well would trigger a redundant full table rebuild.
+     */
+    public function down(): void {}
+
+    private function ppClaimIndexCoversSize(): bool
     {
-        if (! Schema::hasTable('releases')) {
-            return;
+        foreach (Schema::getIndexes('releases') as $index) {
+            if (($index['name'] ?? null) === self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX) {
+                return in_array('size', $index['columns'] ?? [], true);
+            }
         }
 
-        if ($this->isMariaDbOrMySql()) {
-            $specifications = [];
-            if ($this->indexExists(self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX)) {
-                $specifications[] = 'DROP INDEX `'.self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX.'`';
-            }
-            $specifications[] = 'ADD INDEX `'.self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX.'` (`passwordstatus`, `haspreview`, `nzbstatus`,'
-                .' `leftguid`, `postdate` DESC, `id`, `additional_pp_claimed_at`)';
-            foreach (self::CLAIM_TOKEN_COLUMNS as $column) {
-                if (Schema::hasColumn('releases', $column)) {
-                    $specifications[] = 'MODIFY `'.$column.'` VARCHAR(64) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NULL';
-                }
-            }
+        return false;
+    }
 
-            DB::statement('ALTER TABLE '.$this->table('releases').' '.implode(', ', $specifications));
-
-            return;
+    /** @return list<string> */
+    private function claimTokenColumnsToNarrow(): array
+    {
+        if (! $this->isMariaDbOrMySql()) {
+            return [];
         }
 
-        Schema::table('releases', function (Blueprint $table): void {
-            if ($this->indexExists(self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX)) {
-                $table->dropIndex(self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX);
+        $types = [];
+        foreach (Schema::getColumns('releases') as $column) {
+            $types[$column['name']] = strtolower((string) ($column['type'] ?? ''));
+        }
+
+        $pending = [];
+        foreach (self::CLAIM_TOKEN_COLUMNS as $column) {
+            if (isset($types[$column]) && ! str_starts_with($types[$column], 'char(32)')) {
+                $pending[] = $column;
             }
-            $table->index(
-                ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at'],
-                self::PP_CLAIM_INDEX,
-            );
-        });
+        }
+
+        return $pending;
     }
 
     private function indexExists(string $name): bool
diff --git a/database/schema/mysql-schema.sql b/database/schema/mysql-schema.sql
index dfdd1f3ff..bd77b7436 100644
--- a/database/schema/mysql-schema.sql
+++ b/database/schema/mysql-schema.sql
@@ -1324,7 +1324,7 @@ CREATE TABLE `releases` (
   `videostatus` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
   `nzbstatus` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
   `nzb_creation_claimed_at` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,
-  `nzb_creation_claim_token` varchar(64) DEFAULT NULL,
+  `nzb_creation_claim_token` char(32) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci DEFAULT NULL,
   `iscategorized` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
   `isrenamed` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
   `proc_pp` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
@@ -1337,7 +1337,7 @@ CREATE TABLE `releases` (
   `proc_crc32` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0 COMMENT 'Has the release been crc32 processed',
   `pp_timeout_count` tinyint(4) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0 COMMENT 'Number of times this release timed out during additional post-processing',
   `additional_pp_claimed_at` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,
-  `additional_pp_claim_token` varchar(64) DEFAULT NULL,
+  `additional_pp_claim_token` char(32) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci DEFAULT NULL,
   PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
   UNIQUE KEY `ux_releases_guid` (`guid`),
   KEY `ix_releases_groupsid` (`groups_id`,`passwordstatus`),
@@ -1362,7 +1362,7 @@ CREATE TABLE `releases` (
   KEY `ix_releases_adddate_id` (`adddate`,`id`),
   KEY `ix_releases_predb_id` (`predb_id`),
   KEY `ix_releases_size` (`size`),
-  KEY `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue` (`passwordstatus`,`haspreview`,`nzbstatus`,`leftguid`,`postdate` DESC,`id`,`additional_pp_claimed_at`),
+  KEY `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue` (`passwordstatus`,`haspreview`,`nzbstatus`,`leftguid`,`postdate` DESC,`id`,`additional_pp_claimed_at`,`size`),
   KEY `ix_releases_nzb_creation_group_queue` (`nzbstatus`,`groups_id`,`postdate` DESC,`id`,`nzb_creation_claimed_at`),
   KEY `ix_releases_nzb_creation_global_queue` (`nzbstatus`,`postdate` DESC,`id`,`nzb_creation_claimed_at`)
 ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
diff --git a/tests/Integration/ReleaseSchemaOptimizationMigrationMariaDbTest.php b/tests/Integration/ReleaseSchemaOptimizationMigrationMariaDbTest.php
index 516f8f439..851edb87d 100644
--- a/tests/Integration/ReleaseSchemaOptimizationMigrationMariaDbTest.php
+++ b/tests/Integration/ReleaseSchemaOptimizationMigrationMariaDbTest.php
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ final class ReleaseSchemaOptimizationMigrationMariaDbTest extends TestCase
         $this->assertFalse(Schema::hasColumn('releases', 'proc_sorter'));
         $this->assertFalse(Schema::hasColumn('release_comments', 'gid'));
         $this->assertSame(
-            ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at'],
+            ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at', 'size'],
             $this->indexColumns('ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue'),
         );
         $this->assertSame(
@@ -114,13 +114,11 @@ final class ReleaseSchemaOptimizationMigrationMariaDbTest extends TestCase
     }
 
     #[Test]
-    public function claim_token_and_pp_index_follow_up_narrows_columns_and_adds_size(): void
+    public function rebuild_narrows_claim_tokens_and_covers_size_in_one_pass(): void
     {
         $this->seedLegacyData();
-        $this->migration()->up();
-        $followUp = $this->followUpMigration();
 
-        $followUp->up();
+        $this->migration()->up();
 
         $this->assertSame(
             ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at', 'size'],
@@ -135,13 +133,55 @@ final class ReleaseSchemaOptimizationMigrationMariaDbTest extends TestCase
         DB::table('releases')->where('id', 1)->update(['additional_pp_claim_token' => $token]);
         $this->assertSame($token, DB::table('releases')->where('id', 1)->value('additional_pp_claim_token'));
 
-        $followUp->down();
+        $this->migration()->down();
+
+        $this->assertSame('varchar(64)', strtolower($this->columnType('additional_pp_claim_token')));
+        $this->assertSame('varchar(64)', strtolower($this->columnType('nzb_creation_claim_token')));
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function follow_up_migration_is_a_no_op_once_the_rebuild_covers_it(): void
+    {
+        $this->seedLegacyData();
+        $this->migration()->up();
+
+        $before = $this->releasesCreateStatement();
+        $this->followUpMigration()->up();
+
+        $this->assertSame($before, $this->releasesCreateStatement());
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function follow_up_migration_upgrades_an_install_left_on_the_old_shape(): void
+    {
+        $this->seedLegacyData();
+        $this->migration()->up();
+
+        DB::statement(
+            'ALTER TABLE `'.$this->table('releases').'` '
+            .'DROP INDEX `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue`, '
+            .'ADD INDEX `ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue` (`passwordstatus`, `haspreview`, `nzbstatus`, `leftguid`,'
+            .' `postdate` DESC, `id`, `additional_pp_claimed_at`), '
+            .'MODIFY `nzb_creation_claim_token` VARCHAR(64) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NULL, '
+            .'MODIFY `additional_pp_claim_token` VARCHAR(64) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NULL'
+        );
+
+        $this->followUpMigration()->up();
 
         $this->assertSame(
-            ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at'],
+            ['passwordstatus', 'haspreview', 'nzbstatus', 'leftguid', 'postdate', 'id', 'additional_pp_claimed_at', 'size'],
             $this->indexColumns('ix_releases_add_pp_claim_queue'),
         );
-        $this->assertSame('varchar(64)', strtolower($this->columnType('additional_pp_claim_token')));
+        foreach (['nzb_creation_claim_token', 'additional_pp_claim_token'] as $column) {
+            $this->assertSame('char(32)', strtolower($this->columnType($column)));
+        }
+    }
+
+    private function releasesCreateStatement(): string
+    {
+        $row = DB::selectOne('SHOW CREATE TABLE `'.$this->table('releases').'`');
+
+        return (string) ($row->{'Create Table'} ?? '');
     }
 
     private function createSchema(): void