diff --git a/roomserver/internal/query/query.go b/roomserver/internal/query/query.go
index 6b4cb5816..98a9c9e73 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/query/query.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/query/query.go
@@ -149,7 +149,11 @@ func (r *Queryer) QueryMissingAuthPrevEvents(
 	}
 
 	for _, prevEventID := range request.PrevEventIDs {
-		if state, err := r.DB.StateAtEventIDs(ctx, []string{prevEventID}); err != nil || len(state) == 0 {
+		state, err := r.DB.StateAtEventIDs(ctx, []string{prevEventID})
+		if len(state) == 1 && state[0].IsRejected {
+			continue
+		}
+		if err != nil || len(state) == 0 {
 			response.MissingPrevEventIDs = append(response.MissingPrevEventIDs, prevEventID)
 		}
 	}