diff --git a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/oracle/OracleDatabase.java b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/oracle/OracleDatabase.java
index a226d9c90f..fa6546b42f 100644
--- a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/oracle/OracleDatabase.java
+++ b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/oracle/OracleDatabase.java
@@ -116,6 +116,12 @@ public String getRawCreateScript(Table table, boolean baseline) {
                 "CREATE INDEX \"" + table.getSchema().getName() + "\".\"" + table.getName() + "_s_idx\" ON " + table + " (\"success\");\n";
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public boolean supportsEmptyMigrationDescription() {
+        // Oracle will convert the empty string to NULL implicitly, and throw an exception as the column is NOT NULL
+        return false;
+    }
+
     @Override
     protected String doGetCurrentUser() throws SQLException {
         return getMainConnection().getJdbcTemplate().queryForString("SELECT USER FROM DUAL");
diff --git a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/sybasease/SybaseASEDatabase.java b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/sybasease/SybaseASEDatabase.java
index acec496601..d49a3882be 100644
--- a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/sybasease/SybaseASEDatabase.java
+++ b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/database/sybasease/SybaseASEDatabase.java
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ public String getRawCreateScript(Table table, boolean baseline) {
                 "go\n";
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public boolean supportsEmptyMigrationDescription() {
+        // Sybase will convert the empty string to a single space implicitly, which won't error on updating the
+        // history table but will subsequently fail validation of the history table against the file name.
+        return false;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public Delimiter getDefaultDelimiter() {
         return Delimiter.GO;
diff --git a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/info/MigrationInfoImpl.java b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/info/MigrationInfoImpl.java
index 972adbc2f5..56afc4570d 100644
--- a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/info/MigrationInfoImpl.java
+++ b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/info/MigrationInfoImpl.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import org.flywaydb.core.api.resolver.ResolvedMigration;
 import org.flywaydb.core.internal.resolver.ResolvedMigrationImpl;
 import org.flywaydb.core.internal.schemahistory.AppliedMigration;
+import org.flywaydb.core.internal.schemahistory.SchemaHistory;
 import org.flywaydb.core.internal.util.AbbreviationUtils;
 
 import java.util.Date;
@@ -319,8 +320,7 @@ public String validate() {
                                 appliedMigration.getChecksum(), resolvedMigration.getChecksum());
                     }
                 }
-                if (!AbbreviationUtils.abbreviateDescription(resolvedMigration.getDescription())
-                        .equals(appliedMigration.getDescription())) {
+                if (descriptionMismatch(resolvedMigration, appliedMigration)) {
                     return createMismatchMessage("description", migrationIdentifier,
                             appliedMigration.getDescription(), resolvedMigration.getDescription());
                 }
@@ -337,6 +337,16 @@ public String validate() {
         return null;
     }
 
+    private boolean descriptionMismatch(ResolvedMigration resolvedMigration, AppliedMigration appliedMigration) {
+        // For some databases, we can't put an empty description into the history table
+        if (SchemaHistory.NO_DESCRIPTION_MARKER.equals(appliedMigration.getDescription())) {
+            return !"".equals(resolvedMigration.getDescription());
+        }
+        // The default
+        return (!AbbreviationUtils.abbreviateDescription(resolvedMigration.getDescription())
+                .equals(appliedMigration.getDescription()));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Creates a message for a mismatch.
      *
diff --git a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/JdbcTableSchemaHistory.java b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/JdbcTableSchemaHistory.java
index fcfea10aad..a6a230c946 100644
--- a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/JdbcTableSchemaHistory.java
+++ b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/JdbcTableSchemaHistory.java
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ protected void doAddAppliedMigration(int installedRank, MigrationVersion version
         try {
             String versionStr = version == null ? null : version.toString();
 
+            if (!database.supportsEmptyMigrationDescription() && "".equals(description)) {
+                description = NO_DESCRIPTION_MARKER;
+            }
+
             jdbcTemplate.update(database.getInsertStatement(table),
                     installedRank, versionStr, description, type.name(), script, checksum, database.getInstalledBy(),
                     executionTime, success);
diff --git a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/SchemaHistory.java b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/SchemaHistory.java
index 55f876676b..1393ae2221 100644
--- a/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/SchemaHistory.java
+++ b/flyway-core/src/main/java/org/flywaydb/core/internal/schemahistory/SchemaHistory.java
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
  * The schema history used to track all applied migrations.
  */
 public abstract class SchemaHistory {
+    public static final String NO_DESCRIPTION_MARKER = "<< no description >>";
+
     /**
      * The schema history table used by Flyway.
      * Non-final due to the table name fallback mechanism. Will be made final in Flyway 6.0.