diff --git a/cmd/ingestor/db.go b/cmd/ingestor/db.go
index b110317e..4d03b952 100644
--- a/cmd/ingestor/db.go
+++ b/cmd/ingestor/db.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ type Store struct {
 	stmtUpsertMetrics          *sql.Stmt
 
 	sampleIntervalSec int
+	backfillWg        sync.WaitGroup
 }
 
 // OpenStore opens or creates a SQLite DB at the given path, applying the
@@ -445,54 +447,8 @@ func applySchema(db *sql.DB) error {
 	}
 
 	// Migration: backfill observations.path_json from raw_hex (#888)
-	row = db.QueryRow("SELECT 1 FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1'")
-	if row.Scan(&migDone) != nil {
-		log.Println("[migration] Backfilling observations.path_json from raw_hex...")
-		updated := 0
-		const batchSize = 1000
-		for {
-			rows, err := db.Query(`
-				SELECT o.id, o.raw_hex
-				FROM observations o
-				JOIN transmissions t ON o.transmission_id = t.id
-				WHERE o.raw_hex IS NOT NULL AND o.raw_hex != ''
-				AND (o.path_json IS NULL OR o.path_json = '' OR o.path_json = '[]')
-				AND t.payload_type != 9
-				LIMIT ?`, batchSize)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Printf("[migration] backfill_path_json query error: %v", err)
-				break
-			}
-			type pendingRow struct {
-				id     int64
-				rawHex string
-			}
-			var batch []pendingRow
-			for rows.Next() {
-				var r pendingRow
-				if err := rows.Scan(&r.id, &r.rawHex); err == nil {
-					batch = append(batch, r)
-				}
-			}
-			rows.Close()
-			if len(batch) == 0 {
-				break
-			}
-			for _, r := range batch {
-				hops, err := packetpath.DecodePathFromRawHex(r.rawHex)
-				if err != nil || len(hops) == 0 {
-					// Mark as processed with empty path to avoid re-scanning
-					db.Exec(`UPDATE observations SET path_json = '[]' WHERE id = ?`, r.id)
-					continue
-				}
-				b, _ := json.Marshal(hops)
-				db.Exec(`UPDATE observations SET path_json = ? WHERE id = ?`, string(b), r.id)
-				updated++
-			}
-		}
-		log.Printf("[migration] Backfilled path_json for %d observations from raw_hex", updated)
-		db.Exec(`INSERT INTO _migrations (name) VALUES ('backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1')`)
-	}
+	// NOTE: This runs ASYNC via BackfillPathJSONAsync() to avoid blocking MQTT startup.
+	// See staging outage where ~502K rows blocked ingest for 15+ hours.
 
 	// One-time cleanup: delete legacy packets with empty hash or empty first_seen (#994)
 	row = db.QueryRow("SELECT 1 FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'cleanup_legacy_null_hash_ts'")
@@ -800,6 +756,7 @@ func (s *Store) UpsertObserver(id, name, iata string, meta *ObserverMeta) error
 
 // Close checkpoints the WAL and closes the database.
 func (s *Store) Close() error {
+	s.backfillWg.Wait()
 	s.Checkpoint()
 	return s.db.Close()
 }
@@ -939,6 +896,92 @@ func (s *Store) Checkpoint() {
 	}
 }
 
+// BackfillPathJSONAsync launches the path_json backfill in a background goroutine.
+// It processes observations with NULL/empty path_json that have raw_hex available,
+// decoding hop paths and updating the column. Safe to run concurrently with ingest
+// because new observations get path_json at write time; this only touches NULL rows.
+// Idempotent: skips if migration already recorded.
+func (s *Store) BackfillPathJSONAsync() {
+	s.backfillWg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer s.backfillWg.Done()
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				log.Printf("[backfill] path_json async panic recovered: %v", r)
+			}
+		}()
+
+		var migDone int
+		row := s.db.QueryRow("SELECT 1 FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1'")
+		if row.Scan(&migDone) == nil {
+			return // already done
+		}
+
+		log.Println("[backfill] Starting async path_json backfill from raw_hex...")
+		updated := 0
+		errored := false
+		const batchSize = 1000
+		batchNum := 0
+		for {
+			rows, err := s.db.Query(`
+				SELECT o.id, o.raw_hex
+				FROM observations o
+				JOIN transmissions t ON o.transmission_id = t.id
+				WHERE o.raw_hex IS NOT NULL AND o.raw_hex != ''
+				AND (o.path_json IS NULL OR o.path_json = '' OR o.path_json = '[]')
+				AND t.payload_type != 9
+				LIMIT ?`, batchSize)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Printf("[backfill] path_json query error: %v", err)
+				errored = true
+				break
+			}
+			type pendingRow struct {
+				id     int64
+				rawHex string
+			}
+			var batch []pendingRow
+			for rows.Next() {
+				var r pendingRow
+				if err := rows.Scan(&r.id, &r.rawHex); err == nil {
+					batch = append(batch, r)
+				}
+			}
+			rows.Close()
+			if len(batch) == 0 {
+				break
+			}
+			for _, r := range batch {
+				hops, err := packetpath.DecodePathFromRawHex(r.rawHex)
+				if err != nil || len(hops) == 0 {
+					if _, execErr := s.db.Exec(`UPDATE observations SET path_json = '[]' WHERE id = ?`, r.id); execErr != nil {
+						log.Printf("[backfill] write error (id=%d): %v", r.id, execErr)
+					}
+					continue
+				}
+				b, _ := json.Marshal(hops)
+				if _, execErr := s.db.Exec(`UPDATE observations SET path_json = ? WHERE id = ?`, string(b), r.id); execErr != nil {
+					log.Printf("[backfill] write error (id=%d): %v", r.id, execErr)
+				} else {
+					updated++
+				}
+			}
+			batchNum++
+			if batchNum%50 == 0 {
+				log.Printf("[backfill] progress: %d observations updated so far (%d batches)", updated, batchNum)
+			}
+			// Throttle: yield to ingest writers between batches
+			time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+		}
+		log.Printf("[backfill] Async path_json backfill complete: %d observations updated", updated)
+		if !errored {
+			s.db.Exec(`INSERT INTO _migrations (name) VALUES ('backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1')`)
+		} else {
+			log.Printf("[backfill] NOT recording migration due to errors — will retry on next restart")
+		}
+	}()
+}
+
 // LogStats logs current operational metrics.
 func (s *Store) LogStats() {
 	log.Printf("[stats] tx_inserted=%d tx_dupes=%d obs_inserted=%d node_upserts=%d observer_upserts=%d write_errors=%d sig_drops=%d",
diff --git a/cmd/ingestor/db_test.go b/cmd/ingestor/db_test.go
index c3f95933..82a5ce15 100644
--- a/cmd/ingestor/db_test.go
+++ b/cmd/ingestor/db_test.go
@@ -2210,16 +2210,24 @@ func TestBackfillPathJsonFromRawHex(t *testing.T) {
 	s.db.Exec(`DELETE FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1'`)
 	s.Close()
 
-	// Reopen — migration should run
+	// Reopen — backfill is now async, must trigger explicitly
 	s2, err := OpenStore(dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	defer s2.Close()
 
-	// Check migration ran
+	// Trigger async backfill and wait for completion
+	s2.BackfillPathJSONAsync()
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(10 * time.Second)
 	var migCount int
-	s2.db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1'").Scan(&migCount)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		s2.db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1'").Scan(&migCount)
+		if migCount == 1 {
+			break
+		}
+		time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
 	if migCount != 1 {
 		t.Fatalf("migration not recorded")
 	}
@@ -2376,3 +2384,186 @@ func TestBuildPacketDataRegionFallsBackToTopic(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected region SJC from topic, got %q", pkt.Region)
 	}
 }
+
+
+// TestBackfillPathJSONAsync verifies that the path_json backfill does NOT block
+// OpenStore from returning. MQTT connect happens immediately after OpenStore;
+// if the backfill is synchronous, MQTT would be delayed indefinitely on large DBs.
+// This test creates pending backfill rows, opens the store, and asserts that
+// OpenStore returns before the migration is recorded — proving async execution.
+func TestBackfillPathJSONAsync(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	dbPath := filepath.Join(dir, "async_test.db")
+
+	// Bootstrap schema manually so we can insert test data BEFORE OpenStore
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite", dbPath+"?_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)&_pragma=busy_timeout(5000)")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// Create tables manually (minimal schema for this test)
+	_, err = db.Exec(`
+		CREATE TABLE _migrations (name TEXT PRIMARY KEY);
+		CREATE TABLE transmissions (
+			id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+			raw_hex TEXT NOT NULL,
+			hash TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
+			first_seen TEXT NOT NULL,
+			route_type INTEGER,
+			payload_type INTEGER,
+			payload_version INTEGER,
+			decoded_json TEXT,
+			created_at TEXT DEFAULT (datetime('now')),
+			channel_hash TEXT
+		);
+		CREATE TABLE observers (
+			id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+			name TEXT,
+			iata TEXT,
+			last_seen TEXT,
+			first_seen TEXT,
+			packet_count INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
+			model TEXT,
+			firmware TEXT,
+			client_version TEXT,
+			radio TEXT,
+			battery_mv INTEGER,
+			uptime_secs INTEGER,
+			noise_floor REAL,
+			inactive INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
+			last_packet_at TEXT
+		);
+		CREATE TABLE nodes (
+			public_key TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+			name TEXT, role TEXT, lat REAL, lon REAL,
+			last_seen TEXT, first_seen TEXT, advert_count INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
+			battery_mv INTEGER, temperature_c REAL
+		);
+		CREATE TABLE inactive_nodes (
+			public_key TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+			name TEXT, role TEXT, lat REAL, lon REAL,
+			last_seen TEXT, first_seen TEXT, advert_count INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
+			battery_mv INTEGER, temperature_c REAL
+		);
+		CREATE TABLE observations (
+			id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+			transmission_id INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES transmissions(id),
+			observer_idx INTEGER,
+			direction TEXT,
+			snr REAL, rssi REAL, score INTEGER,
+			path_json TEXT,
+			timestamp INTEGER NOT NULL,
+			raw_hex TEXT
+		);
+		CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_observations_dedup ON observations(transmission_id, observer_idx, COALESCE(path_json, ''));
+		CREATE INDEX idx_observations_transmission_id ON observations(transmission_id);
+		CREATE INDEX idx_observations_observer_idx ON observations(observer_idx);
+		CREATE INDEX idx_observations_timestamp ON observations(timestamp);
+		CREATE TABLE observer_metrics (
+			observer_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+			timestamp TEXT NOT NULL,
+			noise_floor REAL, tx_air_secs INTEGER, rx_air_secs INTEGER,
+			recv_errors INTEGER, battery_mv INTEGER,
+			packets_sent INTEGER, packets_recv INTEGER,
+			PRIMARY KEY (observer_id, timestamp)
+		);
+		CREATE TABLE dropped_packets (
+			id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+			hash TEXT, raw_hex TEXT, reason TEXT NOT NULL,
+			observer_id TEXT, observer_name TEXT,
+			node_pubkey TEXT, node_name TEXT,
+			dropped_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
+		);
+	`)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("bootstrap schema:", err)
+	}
+
+	// Mark all migrations as done EXCEPT the path_json backfill
+	for _, m := range []string{
+		"advert_count_unique_v1", "noise_floor_real_v1", "node_telemetry_v1",
+		"obs_timestamp_index_v1", "observer_metrics_v1", "observer_metrics_ts_idx",
+		"observers_inactive_v1", "observer_metrics_packets_v1", "channel_hash_v1",
+		"dropped_packets_v1", "observations_raw_hex_v1", "observers_last_packet_at_v1",
+		"cleanup_legacy_null_hash_ts",
+	} {
+		db.Exec(`INSERT INTO _migrations (name) VALUES (?)`, m)
+	}
+
+	// Insert a transmission + observations with NULL path_json and valid raw_hex
+	// raw_hex "0102AABBCCDD0000" has 2-hop path decodable by packetpath
+	rawHex := "41020304AABBCCDD05060708"
+	_, err = db.Exec(`INSERT INTO transmissions (raw_hex, hash, first_seen, payload_type) VALUES (?, 'hash1', '2025-01-01T00:00:00Z', 4)`, rawHex)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("insert tx:", err)
+	}
+	// Insert 100 observations needing backfill
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		_, err = db.Exec(`INSERT INTO observations (transmission_id, observer_idx, timestamp, raw_hex, path_json) VALUES (1, ?, ?, ?, NULL)`,
+			i+1, 1700000000+i, rawHex)
+		if err != nil {
+			// dedup index might fire — use unique observer_idx
+			t.Fatalf("insert obs %d: %v", i, err)
+		}
+	}
+	db.Close()
+
+	// Now open store via OpenStore — this must return QUICKLY (non-blocking)
+	start := time.Now()
+	store, err := OpenStoreWithInterval(dbPath, 300)
+	elapsed := time.Since(start)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("OpenStore:", err)
+	}
+	defer store.Close()
+
+	// OpenStore must return in under 2 seconds (backfill is no longer in applySchema)
+	if elapsed > 2*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("OpenStore blocked for %v — backfill must not run in applySchema", elapsed)
+	}
+
+	// Backfill must NOT be recorded yet — it hasn't been triggered
+	var done int
+	err = store.db.QueryRow("SELECT 1 FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1'").Scan(&done)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("migration recorded during OpenStore — backfill must be async via BackfillPathJSONAsync()")
+	}
+
+	// Now trigger the async backfill (simulates what main.go does after OpenStore)
+	store.BackfillPathJSONAsync()
+
+	// Wait for backfill to complete (should be very fast with 100 rows)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(10 * time.Second)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		err = store.db.QueryRow("SELECT 1 FROM _migrations WHERE name = 'backfill_path_json_from_raw_hex_v1'").Scan(&done)
+		if err == nil {
+			break
+		}
+		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("backfill never completed within 10s")
+	}
+
+	// Verify backfill actually worked — observations should have non-NULL path_json
+	var nullCount int
+	store.db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM observations WHERE path_json IS NULL").Scan(&nullCount)
+	if nullCount > 0 {
+		t.Errorf("backfill left %d observations with NULL path_json", nullCount)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestBackfillPathJSONAsyncMethodExists verifies the async backfill API surface
+// exists — BackfillPathJSONAsync must be callable independently from OpenStore.
+func TestBackfillPathJSONAsyncMethodExists(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	dbPath := filepath.Join(dir, "method_test.db")
+	store, err := OpenStoreWithInterval(dbPath, 300)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer store.Close()
+
+	// BackfillPathJSONAsync must exist as a method on *Store
+	// This is a compile-time check — if the method doesn't exist, the test won't compile.
+	store.BackfillPathJSONAsync()
+}
diff --git a/cmd/ingestor/main.go b/cmd/ingestor/main.go
index 6dda8b99..e23fb2b3 100644
--- a/cmd/ingestor/main.go
+++ b/cmd/ingestor/main.go
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ func main() {
 	defer store.Close()
 	log.Printf("SQLite opened: %s", cfg.DBPath)
 
+	// Async backfill: path_json from raw_hex (#888) — must not block MQTT startup
+	store.BackfillPathJSONAsync()
+
 	// Check auto_vacuum mode and optionally migrate (#919)
 	store.CheckAutoVacuum(cfg)