diff --git a/satellite/metabase/precommit.go b/satellite/metabase/precommit.go
index e3c0498f410a..8aac0e1e8d09 100644
--- a/satellite/metabase/precommit.go
+++ b/satellite/metabase/precommit.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package metabase
 import (
 	"context"
 	"database/sql"
+	"errors"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
@@ -82,10 +83,15 @@ func (db *DB) precommitQueryHighest(ctx context.Context, loc ObjectLocation, tx
 	}
 
 	err = tx.QueryRowContext(ctx, `
-		SELECT COALESCE(MAX(version), 0) as version
+		SELECT version
 		FROM objects
 		WHERE (project_id, bucket_name, object_key) = ($1, $2, $3)
+		ORDER BY version DESC
+		LIMIT 1
 	`, loc.ProjectID, []byte(loc.BucketName), loc.ObjectKey).Scan(&highest)
+	if errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {
+		return 0, nil
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, Error.Wrap(err)
 	}
@@ -101,12 +107,15 @@ func (db *DB) precommitQueryHighestAndUnversioned(ctx context.Context, loc Objec
 		return 0, false, Error.Wrap(err)
 	}
 
+	var version sql.NullInt64
 	err = tx.QueryRowContext(ctx, `
 		SELECT
 			(
-				SELECT COALESCE(MAX(version), 0) as version
+				SELECT version
 				FROM objects
 				WHERE (project_id, bucket_name, object_key) = ($1, $2, $3)
+				ORDER BY version DESC
+				LIMIT 1
 			),
 			(
 				SELECT EXISTS (
@@ -116,10 +125,13 @@ func (db *DB) precommitQueryHighestAndUnversioned(ctx context.Context, loc Objec
 						status IN `+statusesUnversioned+`
 				)
 			)
-	`, loc.ProjectID, []byte(loc.BucketName), loc.ObjectKey).Scan(&highest, &unversionedExists)
+	`, loc.ProjectID, []byte(loc.BucketName), loc.ObjectKey).Scan(&version, &unversionedExists)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, false, Error.Wrap(err)
 	}
+	if version.Valid {
+		highest = Version(version.Int64)
+	}
 
 	return highest, unversionedExists, nil
 }
@@ -147,9 +159,11 @@ func (db *DB) precommitDeleteUnversioned(ctx context.Context, loc ObjectLocation
 
 	err = tx.QueryRowContext(ctx, `
 		WITH highest_object AS (
-			SELECT MAX(version) as version
+			SELECT version
 			FROM objects
 			WHERE (project_id, bucket_name, object_key) = ($1, $2, $3)
+			ORDER BY version DESC
+			LIMIT 1
 		), deleted_objects AS (
 			DELETE FROM objects
 			WHERE
@@ -284,14 +298,18 @@ func (db *DB) precommitDeleteUnversionedWithNonPending(ctx context.Context, loc
 
 	err = tx.QueryRowContext(ctx, `
 		WITH highest_object AS (
-			SELECT MAX(version) as version
+			SELECT version
 			FROM objects
 			WHERE (project_id, bucket_name, object_key) = ($1, $2, $3)
+			ORDER BY version DESC
+			LIMIT 1
 		), highest_non_pending_object AS (
-			SELECT MAX(version) as version
+			SELECT version
 			FROM objects
 			WHERE (project_id, bucket_name, object_key) = ($1, $2, $3)
 				AND status <> `+statusPending+`
+			ORDER BY version DESC
+			LIMIT 1
 		), deleted_objects AS (
 			DELETE FROM objects
 			WHERE
diff --git a/satellite/metabase/precommit_expose_test.go b/satellite/metabase/precommit_expose_test.go
index bef10f2f2385..71e46e073ee7 100644
--- a/satellite/metabase/precommit_expose_test.go
+++ b/satellite/metabase/precommit_expose_test.go
@@ -21,3 +21,12 @@ func (db *DB) PrecommitConstraint(ctx context.Context, opts PrecommitConstraint,
 	r, err := db.precommitConstraint(ctx, precommitConstraint(opts), tx)
 	return PrecommitConstraintResult(r), err
 }
+
+// PrecommitConstraintWithNonPendingResult exposes precommitConstraintWithNonPendingResult for testing.
+type PrecommitConstraintWithNonPendingResult precommitConstraintWithNonPendingResult
+
+// PrecommitDeleteUnversionedWithNonPending exposes precommitDeleteUnversionedWithNonPending for testing.
+func (db *DB) PrecommitDeleteUnversionedWithNonPending(ctx context.Context, loc ObjectLocation, tx stmtRow) (result PrecommitConstraintWithNonPendingResult, err error) {
+	r, err := db.precommitDeleteUnversionedWithNonPending(ctx, loc, tx)
+	return PrecommitConstraintWithNonPendingResult(r), err
+}
diff --git a/satellite/metabase/precommit_test.go b/satellite/metabase/precommit_test.go
index 7737736357b9..ffc248f1465b 100644
--- a/satellite/metabase/precommit_test.go
+++ b/satellite/metabase/precommit_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 package metabase_test
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -14,6 +15,33 @@ import (
 	"storj.io/storj/satellite/metabase/metabasetest"
 )
 
+func TestPrecommitConstraint_Empty(t *testing.T) {
+	metabasetest.Run(t, func(ctx *testcontext.Context, t *testing.T, db *metabase.DB) {
+		obj := metabasetest.RandObjectStream()
+
+		for _, versioned := range []bool{false, true} {
+			for _, disallowDelete := range []bool{false, true} {
+				name := fmt.Sprintf("Versioned:%v,DisallowDelete:%v", versioned, disallowDelete)
+				t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+					result, err := db.PrecommitConstraint(ctx, metabase.PrecommitConstraint{
+						Location:       obj.Location(),
+						Versioned:      versioned,
+						DisallowDelete: disallowDelete,
+					}, db.UnderlyingTagSQL())
+					require.NoError(t, err)
+					require.Equal(t, metabase.PrecommitConstraintResult{}, result)
+				})
+			}
+		}
+
+		t.Run("with-non-pending", func(t *testing.T) {
+			result, err := db.PrecommitDeleteUnversionedWithNonPending(ctx, obj.Location(), db.UnderlyingTagSQL())
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, metabase.PrecommitConstraintWithNonPendingResult{}, result)
+		})
+	})
+}
+
 func BenchmarkPrecommitConstraint(b *testing.B) {
 	metabasetest.Bench(b, func(ctx *testcontext.Context, b *testing.B, db *metabase.DB) {
 		baseObj := metabasetest.RandObjectStream()