diff --git a/channeldb/invoice_test.go b/channeldb/invoice_test.go
index 1a4409f2d..c2d208d06 100644
--- a/channeldb/invoice_test.go
+++ b/channeldb/invoice_test.go
@@ -103,3 +103,28 @@ func TestEncodeDecodeAmpInvoiceState(t *testing.T) {
 	// The two states should match.
 	require.Equal(t, ampState, ampState2)
 }
+
+// TestInvoiceBucketTombstone tests the behavior of setting and checking the
+// invoice bucket tombstone. It verifies that the tombstone can be set correctly
+// and detected when present in the database.
+func TestInvoiceBucketTombstone(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Initialize a test database.
+	db, err := MakeTestDB(t)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "unable to initialize db")
+
+	// Ensure the tombstone doesn't exist initially.
+	tombstoneExists, err := db.GetInvoiceBucketTombstone()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, tombstoneExists)
+
+	// Set the tombstone.
+	err = db.SetInvoiceBucketTombstone()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Verify that the tombstone exists after setting it.
+	tombstoneExists, err = db.GetInvoiceBucketTombstone()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, tombstoneExists)
+}
diff --git a/channeldb/invoices.go b/channeldb/invoices.go
index 669da1608..39775ac18 100644
--- a/channeldb/invoices.go
+++ b/channeldb/invoices.go
@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ var (
 	//
 	//   settleIndexNo => invoiceKey
 	settleIndexBucket = []byte("invoice-settle-index")
+
+	// invoiceBucketTombstone is a special key that indicates the invoice
+	// bucket has been permanently closed. Its purpose is to prevent the
+	// invoice bucket from being reopened in the future. A key use case for
+	// the tombstone is to ensure users cannot switch back to the KV invoice
+	// database after migrating to the native SQL database.
+	invoiceBucketTombstone = []byte("invoice-tombstone")
 )
 
 const (
@@ -2402,3 +2409,49 @@ func (d *DB) DeleteInvoice(_ context.Context,
 
 	return err
 }
+
+// SetInvoiceBucketTombstone sets the tombstone key in the invoice bucket to
+// mark the bucket as permanently closed. This prevents it from being reopened
+// in the future.
+func (d *DB) SetInvoiceBucketTombstone() error {
+	return kvdb.Update(d, func(tx kvdb.RwTx) error {
+		// Access the top-level invoice bucket.
+		invoices := tx.ReadWriteBucket(invoiceBucket)
+		if invoices == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invoice bucket does not exist")
+		}
+
+		// Add the tombstone key to the invoice bucket.
+		err := invoices.Put(invoiceBucketTombstone, []byte("1"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to set tombstone: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	}, func() {})
+}
+
+// GetInvoiceBucketTombstone checks if the tombstone key exists in the invoice
+// bucket. It returns true if the tombstone is present and false otherwise.
+func (d *DB) GetInvoiceBucketTombstone() (bool, error) {
+	var tombstoneExists bool
+
+	err := kvdb.View(d, func(tx kvdb.RTx) error {
+		// Access the top-level invoice bucket.
+		invoices := tx.ReadBucket(invoiceBucket)
+		if invoices == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invoice bucket does not exist")
+		}
+
+		// Check if the tombstone key exists.
+		tombstone := invoices.Get(invoiceBucketTombstone)
+		tombstoneExists = tombstone != nil
+
+		return nil
+	}, func() {})
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	return tombstoneExists, nil
+}
diff --git a/config_builder.go b/config_builder.go
index 45a923e05..43c9e4a68 100644
--- a/config_builder.go
+++ b/config_builder.go
@@ -1101,11 +1101,22 @@ func (d *DefaultDatabaseBuilder) BuildDatabase(
 		// regardless of the flag.
 		if !d.cfg.DB.SkipSQLInvoiceMigration {
 			migrationFn := func(tx *sqlc.Queries) error {
-				return invoices.MigrateInvoicesToSQL(
+				err := invoices.MigrateInvoicesToSQL(
 					ctx, dbs.ChanStateDB.Backend,
 					dbs.ChanStateDB, tx,
 					invoiceMigrationBatchSize,
 				)
+				if err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("failed to migrate "+
+						"invoices to SQL: %w", err)
+				}
+
+				// Set the invoice bucket tombstone to indicate
+				// that the migration has been completed.
+				d.logger.Debugf("Setting invoice bucket " +
+					"tombstone")
+
+				return dbs.ChanStateDB.SetInvoiceBucketTombstone() //nolint:ll
 			}
 
 			// Make sure we attach the custom migration function to
@@ -1147,6 +1158,28 @@ func (d *DefaultDatabaseBuilder) BuildDatabase(
 
 		dbs.InvoiceDB = sqlInvoiceDB
 	} else {
+		// Check if the invoice bucket tombstone is set. If it is, we
+		// need to return and ask the user switch back to using the
+		// native SQL store.
+		ripInvoices, err := dbs.ChanStateDB.GetInvoiceBucketTombstone()
+		d.logger.Debugf("Invoice bucket tombstone set to: %v",
+			ripInvoices)
+
+		if err != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("unable to check invoice bucket "+
+				"tombstone: %w", err)
+			d.logger.Error(err)
+
+			return nil, nil, err
+		}
+		if ripInvoices {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("invoices bucket tombstoned, please " +
+				"switch back to native SQL")
+			d.logger.Error(err)
+
+			return nil, nil, err
+		}
+
 		dbs.InvoiceDB = dbs.ChanStateDB
 	}
 
diff --git a/itest/lnd_invoice_migration_test.go b/itest/lnd_invoice_migration_test.go
index fdebfdc86..637ec5992 100644
--- a/itest/lnd_invoice_migration_test.go
+++ b/itest/lnd_invoice_migration_test.go
@@ -298,6 +298,16 @@ func testInvoiceMigration(ht *lntest.HarnessTest) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Now restart Bob without the --db.use-native-sql flag so we can check
+	// that the KV tombstone was set and that Bob will fail to start.
+	require.NoError(ht, bob.Stop())
+	bob.SetExtraArgs(nil)
+
+	// Bob should now fail to start due to the tombstone being set.
+	require.NoError(ht, bob.StartLndCmd(ht.Context()))
+	require.Error(ht, bob.WaitForProcessExit())
+
 	// Start Bob again so the test can complete.
+	bob.SetExtraArgs([]string{"--db.use-native-sql"})
 	require.NoError(ht, bob.Start(ht.Context()))
 }