diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/publicroomsapi/storage/public_rooms_table.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/publicroomsapi/storage/public_rooms_table.go
index 75bf4bf41..6ebeeb315 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/publicroomsapi/storage/public_rooms_table.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/publicroomsapi/storage/public_rooms_table.go
@@ -226,7 +226,10 @@ func (s *publicRoomsStatements) updateRoomAttribute(attrName string, attrValue a
 	var value interface{}
 	if attrName == "aliases" {
 		// Aliases need a special conversion
-		value = pq.StringArray(attrValue.([]string))
+		if value, err = pq.StringArray(attrValue.([]string)); err != nil {
+			// attrValue isn't a slice of strings
+			return err
+		}
 	} else {
 		value = attrValue
 	}
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/roomserver/storage/room_aliases_table.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/roomserver/storage/room_aliases_table.go
index 433835d7a..bfd6cc090 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/roomserver/storage/room_aliases_table.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/roomserver/storage/room_aliases_table.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS roomserver_room_aliases (
     room_id TEXT NOT NULL
 );
 
-CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS roomserver_room_id_idx ON roomserver_room_aliases(room_id);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS roomserver_room_id_idx ON roomserver_room_aliases(room_id);
 `
 
 const insertRoomAliasSQL = "" +