diff --git a/db/docs/zoekt_nodes.yml b/db/docs/zoekt_nodes.yml
index 2c0740d8b604480422ac8cdc2870b0e445e648e2..0a77bb785426490a5816ba2c8a8d7f35c9acf669 100644
--- a/db/docs/zoekt_nodes.yml
+++ b/db/docs/zoekt_nodes.yml
@@ -7,4 +7,5 @@ feature_categories:
 description: Describes a Zoekt server that will be used for indexing and search for some configured namespaces
 introduced_by_url: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/134901
 milestone: '16.6'
-gitlab_schema: gitlab_main
+gitlab_schema: gitlab_main_cell
+exempt_from_sharding: true
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/database/sharding_key_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/database/sharding_key_spec.rb
index ee03e7c32990a7cdfee728e8a50e5be12639fa38..73b9bc125f2ebdde83682b064ae805eaf63d2767 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/database/sharding_key_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/database/sharding_key_spec.rb
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ def error_message(table_name)
   def tables_missing_sharding_key(starting_from_milestone:)
     ::Gitlab::Database::Dictionary.entries.filter_map do |entry|
       entry.table_name if entry.sharding_key.blank? &&
+        !entry.exempt_from_sharding? &&
         entry.milestone_greater_than_or_equal_to?(starting_from_milestone) &&
         ::Gitlab::Database::GitlabSchema.cell_local?(entry.gitlab_schema)
     end