diff --git a/packages/db-postgres/src/schema/traverseFields.ts b/packages/db-postgres/src/schema/traverseFields.ts
index 7174bbb3fd..7ef15d8ad6 100644
--- a/packages/db-postgres/src/schema/traverseFields.ts
+++ b/packages/db-postgres/src/schema/traverseFields.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ export const traverseFields = ({
     let targetIndexes = indexes
 
     if (fieldAffectsData(field)) {
-      columnName = `${columnPrefix || ''}${toSnakeCase(field.name)}`
+      columnName = `${columnPrefix || ''}${field.name[0] === '_' ? '_' : ''}${toSnakeCase(field.name)}`
       fieldName = `${fieldPrefix || ''}${field.name}`
 
       // If field is localized,
diff --git a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts
index c30d981ff3..d2bc46ec5b 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ async function verifyEmail (args: Args): Promise<boolean> {
       id: user.id,
       collection: collection.config.slug,
       data: {
+        ...user,
         _verificationToken: null,
         _verified: true,
       },