diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/scheduler/onlineddl_scheduler_test.go b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/scheduler/onlineddl_scheduler_test.go
index 4030b3a9184..74aebf69e15 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/scheduler/onlineddl_scheduler_test.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/scheduler/onlineddl_scheduler_test.go
@@ -274,6 +274,9 @@ func TestSchemaChange(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("summary: validate sequential migration IDs", func(t *testing.T) {
 		onlineddl.ValidateSequentialMigrationIDs(t, &vtParams, shards)
 	})
+	t.Run("summary: validate completed_timestamp", func(t *testing.T) {
+		onlineddl.ValidateCompletedTimestamp(t, &vtParams)
+	})
 }
 
 func testScheduler(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl/onlineddl_vrepl_test.go b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl/onlineddl_vrepl_test.go
index b012cd4f074..ce0908897eb 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl/onlineddl_vrepl_test.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl/onlineddl_vrepl_test.go
@@ -896,6 +896,9 @@ func TestSchemaChange(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("summary: validate sequential migration IDs", func(t *testing.T) {
 		onlineddl.ValidateSequentialMigrationIDs(t, &vtParams, shards)
 	})
+	t.Run("summary: validate completed_timestamp", func(t *testing.T) {
+		onlineddl.ValidateCompletedTimestamp(t, &vtParams)
+	})
 }
 
 func insertRow(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go
index e59e5759a75..c0ffc120025 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go
@@ -40,6 +40,14 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
+var (
+	testsStartupTime time.Time
+)
+
+func init() {
+	testsStartupTime = time.Now()
+}
+
 // VtgateExecQuery runs a query on VTGate using given query params
 func VtgateExecQuery(t *testing.T, vtParams *mysql.ConnParams, query string, expectError string) *sqltypes.Result {
 	t.Helper()
@@ -429,3 +437,31 @@ func ValidateSequentialMigrationIDs(t *testing.T, vtParams *mysql.ConnParams, sh
 		assert.Equalf(t, count, shardMax[shard]-shardMin[shard]+1, "mismatch: shared=%v, count=%v, min=%v, max=%v", shard, count, shardMin[shard], shardMax[shard])
 	}
 }
+
+// ValidateCompletedTimestamp ensures that any migration in `cancelled`, `completed`, `failed` statuses
+// has a non-nil and valid `completed_timestamp` value.
+func ValidateCompletedTimestamp(t *testing.T, vtParams *mysql.ConnParams) {
+	require.False(t, testsStartupTime.IsZero())
+	r := VtgateExecQuery(t, vtParams, "show vitess_migrations", "")
+
+	completedTimestampNumValidations := 0
+	for _, row := range r.Named().Rows {
+		migrationStatus := row.AsString("migration_status", "")
+		require.NotEmpty(t, migrationStatus)
+		switch migrationStatus {
+		case string(schema.OnlineDDLStatusComplete),
+			string(schema.OnlineDDLStatusFailed),
+			string(schema.OnlineDDLStatusCancelled):
+			{
+				assert.False(t, row["completed_timestamp"].IsNull())
+				// Also make sure the timestamp is "real", and that it is recent.
+				timestamp := row.AsString("completed_timestamp", "")
+				completedTime, err := time.Parse(sqltypes.TimestampFormat, timestamp)
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
+				assert.Greater(t, completedTime.Unix(), testsStartupTime.Unix())
+				completedTimestampNumValidations++
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	assert.NotZero(t, completedTimestampNumValidations)
+}
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/executor.go b/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/executor.go
index 6c112063eb8..0bf1043a6fa 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/executor.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/executor.go
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ var (
 	ErrMigrationNotFound = errors.New("migration not found")
 )
 
+var (
+	// fixCompletedTimestampDone fixes a nil `completed_tiemstamp` columns, see
+	// https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/13927
+	// The fix is in release-18.0
+	// TODO: remove in release-19.0
+	fixCompletedTimestampDone bool
+)
+
 var emptyResult = &sqltypes.Result{}
 var acceptableDropTableIfExistsErrorCodes = []mysql.ErrorCode{mysql.ERCantFindFile, mysql.ERNoSuchTable}
 var copyAlgorithm = sqlparser.AlgorithmValue(sqlparser.CopyStr)
@@ -3810,6 +3818,17 @@ func (e *Executor) gcArtifacts(ctx context.Context) error {
 	e.migrationMutex.Lock()
 	defer e.migrationMutex.Unlock()
 
+	// v18 fix. Remove in v19
+	if !fixCompletedTimestampDone {
+		if _, err := e.execQuery(ctx, sqlFixCompletedTimestamp); err != nil {
+			// This query fixes a bug where stale migrations were marked as 'cancelled' or 'failed' without updating 'completed_timestamp'
+			// Running this query retroactively sets completed_timestamp
+			// This fix is created in v18 and can be removed in v19
+			return err
+		}
+		fixCompletedTimestampDone = true
+	}
+
 	query, err := sqlparser.ParseAndBind(sqlSelectUncollectedArtifacts,
 		sqltypes.Int64BindVariable(int64((retainOnlineDDLTables).Seconds())),
 	)
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/schema.go b/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/schema.go
index 39288248cdb..5bd02821d35 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/schema.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/onlineddl/schema.go
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ const (
 			migration_uuid=%a
 	`
 	sqlUpdateMigrationStatusFailedOrCancelled = `UPDATE _vt.schema_migrations
-			SET migration_status=IF(cancelled_timestamp IS NULL, 'failed', 'cancelled')
+			SET migration_status=IF(cancelled_timestamp IS NULL, 'failed', 'cancelled'),
+			completed_timestamp=NOW(6)
 		WHERE
 			migration_uuid=%a
 	`
@@ -355,7 +356,7 @@ const (
 		SET
 			completed_timestamp=NOW(6)
 		WHERE
-			migration_status='failed'
+			migration_status IN ('cancelled', 'failed')
 			AND cleanup_timestamp IS NULL
 			AND completed_timestamp IS NULL
 	`