diff --git a/src/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py b/src/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py
index 497e88a0638c67..6ef66917d4ddbd 100644
--- a/src/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py
+++ b/src/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py
@@ -82,7 +82,14 @@ def backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup(
         # figure out the detector
         latest_event = get_oldest_or_latest_event(group, EventOrdering.LATEST)
         if not latest_event:
-            logger.info("No latest event found for group", extra={"group_id": group.id})
+            DetectorGroup.objects.create(
+                group_id=group.id,
+                detector_id=None,
+            )
+            logger.info(
+                "No latest event found for group, creating DetectorGroup with null detector",
+                extra={"group_id": group.id},
+            )
             continue
 
         occurrence = latest_event.occurrence
diff --git a/tests/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/test_0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py b/tests/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/test_0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py
index 3412158aaf2462..69aab62ad0513d 100644
--- a/tests/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/test_0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py
+++ b/tests/sentry/workflow_engine/migrations/test_0099_backfill_metric_issue_detectorgroup.py
@@ -86,9 +86,10 @@ def test_migration(self) -> None:
             group=self.metric_issue_deleted_detector, detector=None
         ).exists()
 
-        assert not DetectorGroup.objects.filter(
-            group=self.metric_issue_no_occurrence
-        ).exists()  # does not exist because we should figure out what to do with this
+        assert DetectorGroup.objects.filter(
+            group=self.metric_issue_no_occurrence,
+            detector=None,
+        ).exists()
 
         assert DetectorGroup.objects.filter(
             group=self.metric_issue_existing_detectorgroup, detector=self.detector2