diff --git a/src/coherency.c b/src/coherency.c
index 5e491b1b..d8406da1 100644
--- a/src/coherency.c
+++ b/src/coherency.c
@@ -158,6 +158,16 @@ __hot int coherency_check_head(MDBX_txn *txn, const meta_ptr_t head,
                                 *timestamp == 0)))
     return coherency_timeout(timestamp, -1, txn->env);
 
+  if (unlikely(txn->dbs[FREE_DBI].flags != MDBX_INTEGERKEY)) {
+    if ((txn->dbs[FREE_DBI].flags & DB_PERSISTENT_FLAGS) != MDBX_INTEGERKEY ||
+        unaligned_peek_u64(4, &head.ptr_c->magic_and_version) ==
+            MDBX_DATA_MAGIC) {
+      ERROR("unexpected/invalid db-flags 0x%u for GC/FreeDB",
+            txn->dbs[FREE_DBI].flags);
+      return MDBX_INCOMPATIBLE;
+    }
+    txn->dbs[FREE_DBI].flags &= DB_PERSISTENT_FLAGS;
+  }
   tASSERT(txn, txn->dbs[FREE_DBI].flags == MDBX_INTEGERKEY);
   tASSERT(txn, check_sdb_flags(txn->dbs[MAIN_DBI].flags));
   return MDBX_SUCCESS;
diff --git a/src/dxb.c b/src/dxb.c
index c91880fe..f9a62d36 100644
--- a/src/dxb.c
+++ b/src/dxb.c
@@ -626,7 +626,8 @@ __cold int dxb_setup(MDBX_env *env, const int lck_rc,
           pv2pages(header.geometry.shrink_pv),
           unaligned_peek_u64(4, header.txnid_a), durable_caption(&header));
 
-  if (unlikely(header.trees.gc.flags != MDBX_INTEGERKEY)) {
+  if (unlikely((header.trees.gc.flags & DB_PERSISTENT_FLAGS) !=
+               MDBX_INTEGERKEY)) {
     ERROR("unexpected/invalid db-flags 0x%u for GC/FreeDB",
           header.trees.gc.flags);
     return MDBX_INCOMPATIBLE;
@@ -1055,7 +1056,8 @@ __cold int dxb_setup(MDBX_env *env, const int lck_rc,
         meta_t *const meta = METAPAGE(env, n);
         if (unlikely(unaligned_peek_u64(4, &meta->magic_and_version) !=
                      MDBX_DATA_MAGIC) ||
-            (meta->dxbid.x | meta->dxbid.y) == 0) {
+            (meta->dxbid.x | meta->dxbid.y) == 0 ||
+            (meta->gc_flags & ~DB_PERSISTENT_FLAGS)) {
           const txnid_t txnid =
               meta_is_used(&troika, n) ? constmeta_txnid(meta) : 0;
           NOTICE("%s %s"
diff --git a/src/meta.c b/src/meta.c
index 7214335b..3711c747 100644
--- a/src/meta.c
+++ b/src/meta.c
@@ -541,7 +541,9 @@ __cold int meta_validate(MDBX_env *env, meta_t *const meta,
     return MDBX_RESULT_TRUE;
   }
 
-  if (unlikely(meta->trees.gc.flags != MDBX_INTEGERKEY)) {
+  if (unlikely(meta->trees.gc.flags != MDBX_INTEGERKEY) &&
+      ((meta->trees.gc.flags & DB_PERSISTENT_FLAGS) != MDBX_INTEGERKEY ||
+       magic_and_version == MDBX_DATA_MAGIC)) {
     WARNING("meta[%u] has invalid %s flags 0x%u, skip it", meta_number,
             "GC/FreeDB", meta->trees.gc.flags);
     return MDBX_INCOMPATIBLE;