diff --git a/extensions/tags/migrations/2026_04_07_000000_drop_legacy_background_columns_from_tags.php b/extensions/tags/migrations/2026_04_07_000000_drop_legacy_background_columns_from_tags.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9da8c8b847
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/tags/migrations/2026_04_07_000000_drop_legacy_background_columns_from_tags.php
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Flarum.
+ *
+ * For detailed copyright and license information, please view the
+ * LICENSE file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Builder;
+
+return [
+    'up' => function (Builder $schema) {
+        if (! $schema->hasTable('tags')) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if ($schema->hasColumn('tags', 'background_path')) {
+            $schema->table('tags', function (Blueprint $table) {
+                $table->dropColumn('background_path');
+            });
+        }
+
+        if ($schema->hasColumn('tags', 'background_mode')) {
+            $schema->table('tags', function (Blueprint $table) {
+                $table->dropColumn('background_mode');
+            });
+        }
+    },
+    'down' => function (Builder $schema) {
+        if (! $schema->hasTable('tags')) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (! $schema->hasColumn('tags', 'background_path')) {
+            $schema->table('tags', function (Blueprint $table) {
+                $table->string('background_path', 100)->nullable()->after('color');
+            });
+        }
+
+        if (! $schema->hasColumn('tags', 'background_mode')) {
+            $afterColumn = $schema->hasColumn('tags', 'background_path') ? 'background_path' : 'color';
+
+            $schema->table('tags', function (Blueprint $table) use ($afterColumn) {
+                $table->string('background_mode', 100)->nullable()->after($afterColumn);
+            });
+        }
+    }
+];
diff --git a/extensions/tags/src/Api/Resource/TagResource.php b/extensions/tags/src/Api/Resource/TagResource.php
index 75ccbbb8c6..8f237bd449 100644
--- a/extensions/tags/src/Api/Resource/TagResource.php
+++ b/extensions/tags/src/Api/Resource/TagResource.php
@@ -113,8 +113,9 @@ public function fields(): array
                 ->writableOnUpdate()
                 ->visible(fn (Tag $tag, FlarumContext $context) => $context->getActor()->isAdmin()),
             Schema\Str::make('backgroundUrl')
-                ->get(fn (Tag $tag) => $tag->background_path),
-            Schema\Str::make('backgroundMode'),
+                ->get(fn (Tag $tag) => $tag->getAttribute('background_path')),
+            Schema\Str::make('backgroundMode')
+                ->get(fn (Tag $tag) => $tag->getAttribute('background_mode')),
             Schema\Integer::make('discussionCount'),
             Schema\Integer::make('position')
                 ->nullable(),
diff --git a/extensions/tags/src/Tag.php b/extensions/tags/src/Tag.php
index 469e9e729c..ae51dacdff 100644
--- a/extensions/tags/src/Tag.php
+++ b/extensions/tags/src/Tag.php
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@
  * @property string $slug
  * @property string $description
  * @property string $color
- * @property string $background_path
- * @property string $background_mode
  * @property bool $is_primary
  * @property int $position
  * @property int $parent_id
diff --git a/extensions/tags/src/TagFactory.php b/extensions/tags/src/TagFactory.php
index 629fb4bb9c..a88e8d39d5 100644
--- a/extensions/tags/src/TagFactory.php
+++ b/extensions/tags/src/TagFactory.php
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ public function definition(): array
             'slug' => $this->faker->slug,
             'description' => $this->faker->sentence,
             'color' => $this->faker->hexColor,
-            'background_path' => null,
-            'background_mode' => null,
             'position' => 0,
             'parent_id' => null,
             'default_sort' => null,
diff --git a/extensions/tags/tests/integration/api/tags/SchemaTest.php b/extensions/tags/tests/integration/api/tags/SchemaTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8c7a7c366c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/tags/tests/integration/api/tags/SchemaTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Flarum.
+ *
+ * For detailed copyright and license information, please view the
+ * LICENSE file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Flarum\Tags\Tests\integration\api\tags;
+
+use Flarum\Testing\integration\TestCase;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Builder;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Test;
+
+class SchemaTest extends TestCase
+{
+    /**
+     * @inheritDoc
+     */
+    protected function setUp(): void
+    {
+        parent::setUp();
+
+        $this->extension('flarum-tags');
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function legacy_background_columns_are_not_present_on_tags_table()
+    {
+        $schema = $this->app()->getContainer()->make(Builder::class);
+
+        $this->assertFalse($schema->hasColumn('tags', 'background_path'));
+        $this->assertFalse($schema->hasColumn('tags', 'background_mode'));
+    }
+}