diff --git a/crates/db_schema/src/schema_setup/diff_check.rs b/crates/db_schema/src/schema_setup/diff_check.rs
index 3822f94f3..e686555db 100644
--- a/crates/db_schema/src/schema_setup/diff_check.rs
+++ b/crates/db_schema/src/schema_setup/diff_check.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use lemmy_utils::settings::SETTINGS;
 use std::{
+  collections::BTreeSet,
   fmt::Write,
   process::{Command, Stdio},
 };
@@ -21,26 +22,80 @@ pub fn get_dump() -> String {
 // TODO add unit test for output
 pub fn check_dump_diff(before: String, name: &str) {
   let after = get_dump();
-  if after != before {
-    let mut output = format!("These changes need to be applied in {name}:");
-    let line_diffs = diff::lines(&after, &before);
-    for chunk in line_diffs.split(|line| matches!(line, diff::Result::Left("") | diff::Result::Right("") | diff::Result::Both("", _))) {
-      if chunk
-        .iter()
-        .all(|line| matches!(line, diff::Result::Both(_, _)))
-      {
-        continue;
-      }
-      output.push_str("\n================");
-      for line in chunk {
-        match line {
-          diff::Result::Left(s) => write!(&mut output, "\n- {s}"),
-          diff::Result::Right(s) => write!(&mut output, "\n+ {s}"),
-          diff::Result::Both(s, _) => write!(&mut output, "\n  {s}"),
-        }
-        .expect("failed to build string");
-      }
-    }
-    panic!("{output}");
+  if after == before {
+    return;
   }
+  let [before_chunks, after_chunks] =
+    [&before, &after].map(|dump| chunks(dump).collect::<BTreeSet<_>>());
+
+  // todo dont collect only_in_before?
+  let [mut only_in_before, mut only_in_after] = [
+    before_chunks.difference(&after_chunks),
+    after_chunks.difference(&before_chunks),
+  ]
+  .map(|chunks| {
+    chunks
+      .map(|&chunk| {
+        (
+          chunk,
+          // Used for ignoring formatting differences, especially indentation level, when
+          // determining which item in `only_in_before` corresponds to which item in `only_in_after`
+          chunk.replace([' ', '\t', '\r', '\n'], ""),
+        )
+      })
+      .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+  });
+  if only_in_before.is_empty() && only_in_after.is_empty() {
+    return;
+  }
+  // add empty strings to the shorter vec so the lengths match
+  if only_in_before.len() < only_in_after.len() {
+    only_in_before.resize_with(only_in_after.len(), Default::default);
+  } else {
+    only_in_after.resize_with(only_in_before.len(), Default::default);
+  }
+
+  let mut output = format!("These changes need to be applied in {name}:");
+  for (before_chunk, before_chunk_filtered) in only_in_before {
+    let (most_similar_chunk_index, (most_similar_chunk, _)) = only_in_after
+      .iter()
+      .enumerate()
+      .max_by_key(|(_, (_, after_chunk_filtered))| {
+        diff::chars(after_chunk_filtered, &before_chunk_filtered)
+          .into_iter()
+          .filter(|i| matches!(i, diff::Result::Both(_, _)))
+          .count()
+      })
+      .expect("resize should have prevented this from failing");
+
+    output.push_str('\n');
+    for line in diff::lines(most_similar_chunk, before_chunk) {
+      match line {
+        diff::Result::Left(s) => write!(&mut output, "\n- {s}"),
+        diff::Result::Right(s) => write!(&mut output, "\n+ {s}"),
+        diff::Result::Both(s, _) => write!(&mut output, "\n  {s}"),
+      }
+      .expect("failed to build string");
+    }
+    only_in_after.swap_remove(most_similar_chunk_index);
+  }
+  // should have all been removed
+  assert_eq!(only_in_after.len(), 0);
+  panic!("{output}");
+}
+
+// todo inline?
+fn chunks(dump: &str) -> impl Iterator<Item = &str> {
+  let mut remaining = dump;
+  std::iter::from_fn(move || {
+    remaining = remaining.trim_start();
+    while remaining.starts_with("--") {
+      remaining = remaining.split_once('\n')?.1;
+      remaining = remaining.trim_start();
+    }
+    let (a, b) = remaining.split_once("\n\n")?;
+    remaining = b;
+    // `a` can't be empty because of trim_start
+    Some(a)
+  })
 }