diff --git a/admin-system/renovate.yaml b/admin-system/renovate.yaml
index a040af3..9ab2014 100644
--- a/admin-system/renovate.yaml
+++ b/admin-system/renovate.yaml
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ data:
           "matchPackageNames": ["flomp/wanderer-db", "flomp/wanderer-web"],
           "groupName": "wanderer"
         },
+        {
+          "description": "meilisearch: every version bump can require an index format migration via dump/restore (see https://www.meilisearch.com/docs/learn/update_and_migration/updating). PR #32 (v1.11.3 -> v1.45.2) on 2026-06-06 broke wanderer with `Your database version (1.11.3) is incompatible with your current engine version (1.45.2)`. Hold ALL meilisearch updates behind dashboard approval so the migration is planned before the PR even opens.",
+          "matchPackageNames": ["getmeili/meilisearch"],
+          "dependencyDashboardApproval": true
+        },
         {
           "description": "termix: kubernetes manager would extract the image with versioning=docker and silently skip it (release-1.11.0 fails the docker pre-check). Disable that extraction; customManagers above does the real work via github-releases.",
           "matchManagers": ["kubernetes"],
diff --git a/wanderer-system/wanderer.yaml b/wanderer-system/wanderer.yaml
index bcdc886..a60bd92 100644
--- a/wanderer-system/wanderer.yaml
+++ b/wanderer-system/wanderer.yaml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ spec:
     spec:
       containers:
         - name: meilisearch
-          image: getmeili/meilisearch:v1.45.2
+          image: getmeili/meilisearch:v1.11.3
           env:
             - name: MEILI_MASTER_KEY
               valueFrom: