diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/certificates/migrations/0018_historicalcertificateinvalidation.py b/lms/djangoapps/certificates/migrations/0018_historicalcertificateinvalidation.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3bd83e9528
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/certificates/migrations/0018_historicalcertificateinvalidation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# Generated by Django 2.2.17 on 2021-01-28 20:33
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import django.db.models.deletion
+import django.utils.timezone
+import model_utils.fields
+import simple_history.models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        migrations.swappable_dependency(settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL),
+        ('certificates', '0017_add_mode_20201118_1725'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name='HistoricalCertificateInvalidation',
+            fields=[
+                ('id', models.IntegerField(auto_created=True, blank=True, db_index=True, verbose_name='ID')),
+                ('created', model_utils.fields.AutoCreatedField(default=django.utils.timezone.now, editable=False, verbose_name='created')),
+                ('modified', model_utils.fields.AutoLastModifiedField(default=django.utils.timezone.now, editable=False, verbose_name='modified')),
+                ('notes', models.TextField(default=None, null=True)),
+                ('active', models.BooleanField(default=True)),
+                ('history_id', models.AutoField(primary_key=True, serialize=False)),
+                ('history_date', models.DateTimeField()),
+                ('history_change_reason', models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)),
+                ('history_type', models.CharField(choices=[('+', 'Created'), ('~', 'Changed'), ('-', 'Deleted')], max_length=1)),
+                ('generated_certificate', models.ForeignKey(blank=True, db_constraint=False, null=True, on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.DO_NOTHING, related_name='+', to='certificates.GeneratedCertificate')),
+                ('history_user', models.ForeignKey(null=True, on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.SET_NULL, related_name='+', to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL)),
+                ('invalidated_by', models.ForeignKey(blank=True, db_constraint=False, null=True, on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.DO_NOTHING, related_name='+', to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL)),
+            ],
+            options={
+                'verbose_name': 'historical certificate invalidation',
+                'ordering': ('-history_date', '-history_id'),
+                'get_latest_by': 'history_date',
+            },
+            bases=(simple_history.models.HistoricalChanges, models.Model),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/certificates/models.py b/lms/djangoapps/certificates/models.py
index 33ec4ebe96..18cdb705ab 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/certificates/models.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/certificates/models.py
@@ -514,6 +514,13 @@ class CertificateInvalidation(TimeStampedModel):
     notes = models.TextField(default=None, null=True)
     active = models.BooleanField(default=True)
 
+    # This is necessary because CMS does not install the certificates app, but
+    # this code is run when other models in this file are imported there (or in
+    # common code). Simple History will attempt to connect to the installed
+    # model in the certificates app, which will fail.
+    if 'certificates' in apps.app_configs:
+        history = HistoricalRecords()
+
     class Meta(object):
         app_label = "certificates"