diff --git a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/037_migrate_hot_template.py b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/037_migrate_hot_template.py
index 5b3f26ae2..d2cb00321 100644
--- a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/037_migrate_hot_template.py
+++ b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/037_migrate_hot_template.py
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ import copy
 
 from migrate.versioning import util as migrate_util
 import six
+import sqlalchemy
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 
 from heat.common.i18n import _
-from heat.db.sqlalchemy import models
 from heat.engine.hot.parameters import HOTParamSchema
 
 
@@ -26,7 +26,10 @@ def upgrade(migrate_engine):
     Session = sessionmaker(bind=migrate_engine)
     session = Session()
 
-    raw_templates = session.query(models.RawTemplate).all()
+    meta = sqlalchemy.MetaData(bind=migrate_engine)
+
+    templ_table = sqlalchemy.Table('raw_template', meta, autoload=True)
+    raw_templates = templ_table.select().execute()
 
     for raw_template in raw_templates:
         if ('heat_template_version' in raw_template.template
diff --git a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/041_migrate_hot_template_resources.py b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/041_migrate_hot_template_resources.py
index 93417af50..fe7363a4b 100644
--- a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/041_migrate_hot_template_resources.py
+++ b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/041_migrate_hot_template_resources.py
@@ -14,17 +14,20 @@ import copy
 
 from migrate.versioning import util as migrate_util
 import six
+import sqlalchemy
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 
 from heat.common.i18n import _
-from heat.db.sqlalchemy import models
 
 
 def upgrade(migrate_engine):
     Session = sessionmaker(bind=migrate_engine)
     session = Session()
 
-    raw_templates = session.query(models.RawTemplate).all()
+    meta = sqlalchemy.MetaData(bind=migrate_engine)
+
+    templ_table = sqlalchemy.Table('raw_template', meta, autoload=True)
+    raw_templates = templ_table.select().execute()
 
     CFN_TO_HOT_RESOURCE_ATTRS = {'Type': 'type',
                                  'Properties': 'properties',
diff --git a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/043_migrate_template_versions.py b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/043_migrate_template_versions.py
index 5fa7f730d..07db32f59 100644
--- a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/043_migrate_template_versions.py
+++ b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/043_migrate_template_versions.py
@@ -14,17 +14,20 @@ import copy
 import time
 
 from migrate.versioning import util as migrate_util
+import sqlalchemy
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 
 from heat.common.i18n import _
-from heat.db.sqlalchemy import models
 
 
 def upgrade(migrate_engine):
     Session = sessionmaker(bind=migrate_engine)
     session = Session()
 
-    raw_templates = session.query(models.RawTemplate).all()
+    meta = sqlalchemy.MetaData(bind=migrate_engine)
+
+    templ_table = sqlalchemy.Table('raw_template', meta, autoload=True)
+    raw_templates = templ_table.select().execute()
 
     # NOTE (sdake) 2014-04-24 is the date of the Icehouse release.  It is
     # possible that folks could continue to make errors in their templates