diff --git a/database/addressindex.go b/database/addressindex.go
index de9ebba..8338d6d 100644
--- a/database/addressindex.go
+++ b/database/addressindex.go
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 package database
 
 import (
-	"encoding/binary"
-
 	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
 )
 
@@ -22,7 +20,7 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) GetLastAddressIndex() (uint32, error) {
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		idx = binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(idxBytes)
+		idx = bytesToUint32(idxBytes)
 
 		return nil
 	})
@@ -35,11 +33,7 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) GetLastAddressIndex() (uint32, error) {
 func (vdb *VspDatabase) SetLastAddressIndex(idx uint32) error {
 	err := vdb.db.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
 		vspBkt := tx.Bucket(vspBktK)
-
-		idxBytes := make([]byte, 4)
-		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(idxBytes, idx)
-
-		return vspBkt.Put(lastAddressIndexK, idxBytes)
+		return vspBkt.Put(lastAddressIndexK, uint32ToBytes(idx))
 
 	})
 
diff --git a/database/database.go b/database/database.go
index 3ed2905..e2513f0 100644
--- a/database/database.go
+++ b/database/database.go
@@ -85,6 +85,16 @@ func writeHotBackupFile(db *bolt.DB) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+func uint32ToBytes(i uint32) []byte {
+	bytes := make([]byte, 4)
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(bytes, i)
+	return bytes
+}
+
+func bytesToUint32(bytes []byte) uint32 {
+	return binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(bytes)
+}
+
 // CreateNew intializes a new bbolt database with all of the necessary vspd
 // buckets, and inserts:
 // - the provided extended pubkey (to be used for deriving fee addresses).
@@ -108,10 +118,8 @@ func CreateNew(dbFile, feeXPub string) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create %s bucket: %w", string(vspBktK), err)
 		}
 
-		// Initialize with database version 1.
-		vbytes := make([]byte, 4)
-		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(vbytes, uint32(1))
-		err = vspBkt.Put(versionK, vbytes)
+		// Initialize with initial database version (1).
+		err = vspBkt.Put(versionK, uint32ToBytes(initialVersion))
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -188,7 +196,19 @@ func Open(ctx context.Context, shutdownWg *sync.WaitGroup, dbFile string, backup
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to open db file: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	log.Debugf("Opened database file %s", dbFile)
+	vdb := &VspDatabase{db: db, maxVoteChangeRecords: maxVoteChangeRecords}
+
+	dbVersion, err := vdb.Version()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to get db version: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	log.Debugf("Opened database (version=%d, file=%s)", dbVersion, dbFile)
+
+	err = vdb.Upgrade(dbVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("database upgrade failed: %w", err)
+	}
 
 	// Start a ticker to update the backup file at the specified interval.
 	shutdownWg.Add(1)
@@ -209,7 +229,7 @@ func Open(ctx context.Context, shutdownWg *sync.WaitGroup, dbFile string, backup
 		}
 	}()
 
-	return &VspDatabase{db: db, maxVoteChangeRecords: maxVoteChangeRecords}, nil
+	return vdb, nil
 }
 
 // Close will close the database and then make a copy of the database to the
@@ -305,9 +325,9 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) KeyPair() (ed25519.PrivateKey, ed25519.PublicKey, error)
 	return signKey, pubKey, err
 }
 
-// GetFeeXPub retrieves the extended pubkey used for generating fee addresses
+// FeeXPub retrieves the extended pubkey used for generating fee addresses
 // from the database.
-func (vdb *VspDatabase) GetFeeXPub() (string, error) {
+func (vdb *VspDatabase) FeeXPub() (string, error) {
 	var feeXPub string
 	err := vdb.db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
 		vspBkt := tx.Bucket(vspBktK)
@@ -325,9 +345,9 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) GetFeeXPub() (string, error) {
 	return feeXPub, err
 }
 
-// GetCookieSecret retrieves the generated cookie store secret key from the
+// CookieSecret retrieves the generated cookie store secret key from the
 // database.
-func (vdb *VspDatabase) GetCookieSecret() ([]byte, error) {
+func (vdb *VspDatabase) CookieSecret() ([]byte, error) {
 	var cookieSecret []byte
 	err := vdb.db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
 		vspBkt := tx.Bucket(vspBktK)
@@ -345,6 +365,21 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) GetCookieSecret() ([]byte, error) {
 	return cookieSecret, err
 }
 
+// Version returns the current database version.
+func (vdb *VspDatabase) Version() (uint32, error) {
+	var version uint32
+	err := vdb.db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
+		bytes := tx.Bucket(vspBktK).Get(versionK)
+		version = bytesToUint32(bytes)
+		return nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
+	return version, nil
+}
+
 // BackupDB streams a backup of the database over an http response writer.
 func (vdb *VspDatabase) BackupDB(w http.ResponseWriter) error {
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
diff --git a/database/database_test.go b/database/database_test.go
index ad58e92..0ea37dc 100644
--- a/database/database_test.go
+++ b/database/database_test.go
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func testCreateNew(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// A newly created DB should have a cookie secret.
-	secret, err := db.GetCookieSecret()
+	secret, err := db.CookieSecret()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("error getting cookie secret: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ func testCreateNew(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// A newly created DB should store the fee xpub it was initialized with.
-	retrievedXPub, err := db.GetFeeXPub()
+	retrievedXPub, err := db.FeeXPub()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("error getting fee xpub: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/database/database_upgrades.go b/database/database_upgrades.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c8e8af7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/database_upgrades.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package database
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+)
+
+const (
+	// initialVersion is the version of a freshly created database which has had
+	// no upgrades applied.
+	initialVersion = 1
+
+	// latestVersion is the latest version of the bolt database that is
+	// understood by vspd. Databases with recorded versions higher than
+	// this will fail to open (meaning any upgrades prevent reverting to older
+	// software).
+	latestVersion = initialVersion
+)
+
+// Upgrade will update the database to the latest known version.
+func (vdb *VspDatabase) Upgrade(currentVersion uint32) error {
+	if currentVersion == latestVersion {
+		// No upgrades required.
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if currentVersion > latestVersion {
+		// Database is too new.
+		return fmt.Errorf("expected database version <= %d, got %d", latestVersion, currentVersion)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/database/votechange.go b/database/votechange.go
index 981e9ff..1ffa697 100644
--- a/database/votechange.go
+++ b/database/votechange.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 package database
 
 import (
-	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
@@ -44,7 +43,7 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) SaveVoteChange(ticketHash string, record VoteChangeRecor
 		lowest := uint32(math.MaxUint32)
 		err = bkt.ForEach(func(k, v []byte) error {
 			count++
-			key := binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(k)
+			key := bytesToUint32(k)
 			if key > highest {
 				highest = key
 			}
@@ -60,9 +59,7 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) SaveVoteChange(ticketHash string, record VoteChangeRecor
 		// If bucket is at (or over) the limit of max allowed records, remove
 		// the oldest one.
 		if count >= vdb.maxVoteChangeRecords {
-			keyBytes := make([]byte, 4)
-			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(keyBytes, lowest)
-			err = bkt.Delete(keyBytes)
+			err = bkt.Delete(uint32ToBytes(lowest))
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete old vote change record: %w", err)
 			}
@@ -75,15 +72,12 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) SaveVoteChange(ticketHash string, record VoteChangeRecor
 			newKey = highest + 1
 		}
 
-		keyBytes := make([]byte, 4)
-		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(keyBytes, newKey)
-
 		// Insert record.
 		recordBytes, err := json.Marshal(record)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not marshal vote change record: %w", err)
 		}
-		err = bkt.Put(keyBytes, recordBytes)
+		err = bkt.Put(uint32ToBytes(newKey), recordBytes)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not store vote change record: %w", err)
 		}
@@ -113,7 +107,7 @@ func (vdb *VspDatabase) GetVoteChanges(ticketHash string) (map[uint32]VoteChange
 				return fmt.Errorf("could not unmarshal vote change record: %w", err)
 			}
 
-			records[binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(k)] = record
+			records[bytesToUint32(k)] = record
 
 			return nil
 		})
diff --git a/webapi/webapi.go b/webapi/webapi.go
index 6e1ae70..3f9e03c 100644
--- a/webapi/webapi.go
+++ b/webapi/webapi.go
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func Start(ctx context.Context, requestShutdownChan chan struct{}, shutdownWg *s
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("db.GetLastAddressIndex error: %w", err)
 	}
-	feeXPub, err := vdb.GetFeeXPub()
+	feeXPub, err := vdb.FeeXPub()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("db.GetFeeXPub error: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func Start(ctx context.Context, requestShutdownChan chan struct{}, shutdownWg *s
 	}
 
 	// Get the secret key used to initialize the cookie store.
-	cookieSecret, err := vdb.GetCookieSecret()
+	cookieSecret, err := vdb.CookieSecret()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("db.GetCookieSecret error: %w", err)
 	}