diff --git a/db/migrate/20171025122732_move_ems_refresh_args_to_data.rb b/db/migrate/20171025122732_move_ems_refresh_args_to_data.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b4c64c249
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20171025122732_move_ems_refresh_args_to_data.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+class MoveEmsRefreshArgsToData < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.0]
+  class MiqQueue < ActiveRecord::Base
+    serialize :args, Array
+  end
+
+  def up
+    say_with_time('Move MiqQueue refresh args to data') do
+      MiqQueue.where(:class_name => 'EmsRefresh', :method_name => 'refresh').each do |queue_item|
+        begin
+          targets = queue_item.args.first
+          data = Marshal.dump(targets) unless targets.nil?
+
+          queue_item.update_attributes(:msg_data => data, :args => [])
+        rescue
+          # If Marshal.load fails we want to delete the queue item
+          queue_item.delete
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def down
+    say_with_time('Move MiqQueue refresh data to args') do
+      MiqQueue.where(:class_name => 'EmsRefresh', :method_name => 'refresh').each do |queue_item|
+        begin
+          args = queue_item.msg_data && Marshal.load(queue_item.msg_data)
+
+          queue_item.update_attributes(:args => args, :msg_data => nil)
+        rescue
+          # If Marshal.load fails we want to delete the queue item
+          queue_item.delete
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/migrations/20171025122732_move_ems_refresh_args_to_data_spec.rb b/spec/migrations/20171025122732_move_ems_refresh_args_to_data_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3821f0ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/migrations/20171025122732_move_ems_refresh_args_to_data_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+require_migration
+
+describe MoveEmsRefreshArgsToData do
+  let(:miq_queue_stub) { migration_stub(:MiqQueue) }
+  let(:targets) { [['Vm', 1], ['Host', 2]] }
+  let(:refresh_queue_options) do
+    {
+      :class_name  => 'EmsRefresh',
+      :method_name => 'refresh',
+      :role        => 'ems_inventory',
+      :queue_name  => 'ems_1',
+      :zone        => 'default',
+    }
+  end
+  let(:refresh_new_target_queue_options) do
+    {
+      :class_name  => 'EmsRefresh',
+      :method_name => 'refresh_new_target',
+      :role        => 'ems_inventory',
+      :queue_name  => 'ems_1',
+      :zone        => 'default',
+    }
+  end
+
+  migration_context :up do
+    it "Moves EmsRefresh.refresh queue args to data" do
+      q_item = miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_queue_options.merge(:args => [targets]))
+
+      migrate
+
+      expect(Marshal.load(q_item.reload.msg_data)).to match_array(targets)
+    end
+
+    it "Leaves EmsRefresh.refresh args empty" do
+      q_item = miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_queue_options.merge(:args => [targets]))
+
+      migrate
+
+      expect(q_item.reload.args).to match_array([])
+    end
+
+    it "Ignores unrelated queue items" do
+      args = [{:ems_ref => "vm-123"}]
+      q_item = miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_new_target_queue_options.merge(:args => args))
+
+      migrate
+
+      expect(q_item.reload.args).to match_array(args)
+    end
+  end
+
+  migration_context :down do
+    it "Moves EmsRefresh.refresh data to args" do
+      q_item = miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_queue_options.merge(:msg_data => Marshal.dump(targets)))
+
+      migrate
+
+      expect(q_item.reload.args).to match_array(targets)
+    end
+
+    it "If there are no args" do
+      q_item = miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_queue_options.merge(:msg_data => nil))
+
+      migrate
+
+      expect(q_item.reload.args).to match_array([])
+    end
+
+    it "Handle invalid marshal format errors" do
+      # "\x03\x00\x00" is an empty array in Marshal version 3.0
+      q_item = miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_queue_options.merge(:msg_data => "\x03\x00\x00"))
+
+      migrate
+
+      expect { q_item.reload }.to raise_exception(ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound)
+    end
+
+    it "Deletes invalid queue items but migrates the rest" do
+      # "\x03\x00\x00" is an empty array in Marshal version 3.0
+      miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_queue_options.merge(:msg_data => "\x03\x00\x00"))
+      q_item = miq_queue_stub.create!(refresh_queue_options.merge(:msg_data => Marshal.dump(targets)))
+
+      migrate
+
+      expect(q_item.reload.args).to match_array(targets)
+    end
+  end
+end