diff --git a/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/parse/DeployCreateProperties.java b/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/parse/DeployCreateProperties.java
index 29c64d4d1..7000ba2b1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/parse/DeployCreateProperties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/parse/DeployCreateProperties.java
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public class DeployCreateProperties {
    * </p>
    */
   private boolean ignoreFieldByName(String fieldName) {
-    if (fieldName.startsWith("_ebean_")) {
+    if (fieldName.startsWith("_ebean_") || fieldName.equals("_$targetDatabase")) {
       // ignore Ebean internal fields
       return true;
     }