diff --git a/internal/pgtools/quote.go b/internal/pgtools/quote.go
index ba2e084..9f8cbec 100644
--- a/internal/pgtools/quote.go
+++ b/internal/pgtools/quote.go
@@ -102,3 +102,16 @@ func requiresQuoting(identifier string) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+// ParseTableName splits a table name into schema and table parts.
+//
+// If tableName is unqualified (no "."), the schema defaults to "public".
+// If tableName is qualified, everything before the first "." is returned as
+// schema and everything after it is returned as tablename.
+func ParseTableName(tableName string) (schema string, tablename string) {
+	schema, tablename, found := strings.Cut(tableName, ".")
+	if !found {
+		return "public", tableName
+	}
+	return schema, tablename
+}
diff --git a/internal/pgtools/quote_test.go b/internal/pgtools/quote_test.go
index c73d0d3..d71ff16 100644
--- a/internal/pgtools/quote_test.go
+++ b/internal/pgtools/quote_test.go
@@ -51,3 +51,22 @@ func TestIdentifierGarbageInputs(t *testing.T) {
 	check.Equal(t, `"""schema"""."""tablename"""`, pgtools.Identifier(`"schema"."tablename"`))
 	check.Equal(t, `"""schema"."tablename"""`, pgtools.Identifier(`"schema.tablename"`))
 }
+
+func TestParseTableName(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	schema, tablename := pgtools.ParseTableName("users")
+	check.Equal(t, "public", schema)
+	check.Equal(t, "users", tablename)
+
+	schema, tablename = pgtools.ParseTableName("custom.users")
+	check.Equal(t, "custom", schema)
+	check.Equal(t, "users", tablename)
+
+	schema, tablename = pgtools.ParseTableName(".users")
+	check.Equal(t, "", schema)
+	check.Equal(t, "users", tablename)
+
+	schema, tablename = pgtools.ParseTableName("a.b.c")
+	check.Equal(t, "a", schema)
+	check.Equal(t, "b.c", tablename)
+}
diff --git a/migrator.go b/migrator.go
index ea9d133..22f8dc9 100644
--- a/migrator.go
+++ b/migrator.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/peterldowns/pgmigrate/internal/multierr"
@@ -142,6 +141,15 @@ func (m *Migrator) Migrate(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB) ([]VerificationError
 // ensureMigrationsTable will create the migrations table if it does not exist.
 func (m *Migrator) ensureMigrationsTable(ctx context.Context, db Executor) error {
 	m.info(ctx, "ensuring migrations table exists", LogField{Key: "table_name", Value: m.TableName})
+	schema, _ := pgtools.ParseTableName(m.TableName)
+	if schema != "" {
+		query := fmt.Sprintf(`CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS %s`, pgtools.Identifier(schema))
+		m.debug(ctx, query)
+		_, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, query)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("ensureMigrationsTable/create schema: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
 	query := fmt.Sprintf(`
 				CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS %s (
 					id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
@@ -161,15 +169,7 @@ func (m *Migrator) ensureMigrationsTable(ctx context.Context, db Executor) error
 // hasMigrationsTable returns true if the migrations table exists, false
 // otherwise.
 func (m *Migrator) hasMigrationsTable(ctx context.Context, db Executor) (bool, error) {
-	parts := strings.SplitN(m.TableName, ".", 2)
-	var schema, tablename string
-	if len(parts) == 1 {
-		schema = "public"
-		tablename = parts[0]
-	} else {
-		schema = parts[0]
-		tablename = parts[1]
-	}
+	schema, tablename := pgtools.ParseTableName(m.TableName)
 	query := fmt.Sprintf(`
 				SELECT EXISTS (
 					SELECT FROM pg_tables
diff --git a/migrator_test.go b/migrator_test.go
index c2141dc..582b674 100644
--- a/migrator_test.go
+++ b/migrator_test.go
@@ -31,6 +31,36 @@ func TestApplyNoMigrationsSucceeds(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Nil(t, err)
 }
 
+func TestCreateMigrationsTableInMissingSchema(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	logger := pgmigrate.NewTestLogger(t)
+	err := withdb.WithDB(ctx, "pgx", func(db *sql.DB) error {
+		migrations := []pgmigrate.Migration{
+			{
+				ID:  "0001_initial",
+				SQL: "CREATE TABLE users (id BIGINT GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY);",
+			},
+		}
+		migrator := pgmigrate.NewMigrator(migrations)
+		migrator.Logger = logger
+		migrator.TableName = "new_schema.pgmigrate_migrations"
+
+		verrs, err := migrator.Migrate(ctx, db)
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, nil, verrs)
+
+		tables, err := schema.LoadTables(schema.DumpConfig{
+			SchemaNames: []string{"new_schema"},
+		}, db)
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, 1, len(tables))
+		check.Equal(t, "pgmigrate_migrations", tables[0].Name)
+		return nil
+	})
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+}
+
 func TestApplyOneMigrationSucceeds(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	ctx := context.Background()