diff --git a/package/migrator/migrator.sh b/package/migrator/migrator.sh
index e53ded0..799256a 100644
--- a/package/migrator/migrator.sh
+++ b/package/migrator/migrator.sh
@@ -22,14 +22,36 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
       shift 2
     ;;
     --inherits)
-      INHERITS_LIST="${INHERITS_LIST:+$INHERITS_LIST }$2"
+      INHERITS_LIST="${INHERITS_LIST:+$INHERITS_LIST\"}$2"
       shift 2
     ;;
+    --init-dry-run)
+      INIT_DRY_RUN=1
+      shift
+    ;;
     --*|-*) REMAINING_ARS="$REMAINING_ARS $(quote "$1")"; shift ;;              # unknown global -> pass through
     *) REMAINING_ARS="$REMAINING_ARS $(quote "$1")"; shift ;;
   esac
 done
 
+INHERITS_LIST="$(printf '%s' "$INHERITS_LIST" | sed -E 's/"/,/g; s/([^,]+)/"\1"/g')"
+
+init() {
+  log debug "inherits: ${WHITE}${INHERITS_LIST}${NC}"
+  local create_table
+  create_table="$(printf '%s\n' \
+    'CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS hectic;' \
+    'CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS hectic.migration (' \
+    '    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,' \
+    '    name TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,'\
+    '    applied_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()' \
+    ')')"
+
+  printf '%s INHERITS(%s)' "$create_table" "$INHERITS_LIST"
+}
+
+[ "${INIT_DRY_RUN+x}" ] && { printf '%s\n' "$(init)"; exit; }
+
 [ "${SUBCOMMAND+x}" ] || { log error "no subcomand specified"; exit 1; }
 
 help() {
diff --git a/test/package/migrator/test/init-migrations.sh b/test/package/migrator/test/init-migrations.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e48cc9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/package/migrator/test/init-migrations.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+if ! migration_table_sql="$(migrator --inherits tablename --inherits 'table name' --init-dry-run)"; then
+  log error "test failed: error on migration table init dry run"
+fi
+
+printf '%s' "$migration_table_sql" | grep -Eq 'INHERITS[[:space:]]*\([[:space:]]*"tablename"[[:space:]]*,[[:space:]]*"table name"[[:space:]]*\)' ||
+  { log error "not correct migration table inherits"; exit 1; }