Indeed you should ensure that the changes work in future versions. In GitLab we do that with the guideline "Please don't depend on GitLab specific code since it can change in future versions. If needed copy-paste GitLab code into the migration to make make it forward compatible." from our migration style guide that has some other tips if you're interested in maintainability https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/doc/deve...
