diff --git a/dendrite-config.yaml b/dendrite-config.yaml
index 0fc8e8baa..0a4402fc2 100644
--- a/dendrite-config.yaml
+++ b/dendrite-config.yaml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ kafka:
     topics:
         input_room_event: roomserverInput
         output_room_event: roomserverOutput
+        user_updates: userUpdates
 
 # The postgres connection configs for connecting to the databases e.g a postgres:// URI
 database:
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/producers/userupdate.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/producers/userupdate.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f76be0d75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/producers/userupdate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+// Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package producers
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+
+	sarama "gopkg.in/Shopify/sarama.v1"
+)
+
+// UserUpdateProducer produces events related to user updates.
+type UserUpdateProducer struct {
+	Topic    string
+	Producer sarama.SyncProducer
+}
+
+// TODO: Move this struct to `common` so the components that consume the topic
+// can use it when parsing incoming messages
+type profileUpdate struct {
+	Updated  string `json:"updated"`   // Which attribute is updated (can be either `avatar_url` or `displayname`)
+	OldValue string `json:"old_value"` // The attribute's value before the update
+	NewValue string `json:"new_value"` // The attribute's value after the update
+}
+
+// NewUserUpdateProducer creates a new UserUpdateProducer
+func NewUserUpdateProducer(kafkaURIs []string, topic string) (*UserUpdateProducer, error) {
+	producer, err := sarama.NewSyncProducer(kafkaURIs, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &UserUpdateProducer{
+		Topic:    topic,
+		Producer: producer,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// SendUpdate sends an update using kafka to notify the roomserver of the
+// profile update. Returns an error if the update failed to send.
+func (p *UserUpdateProducer) SendUpdate(
+	userID string, updatedAttribute string, oldValue string, newValue string,
+) error {
+	var update profileUpdate
+	var m sarama.ProducerMessage
+
+	m.Topic = string(p.Topic)
+	m.Key = sarama.StringEncoder(userID)
+
+	update = profileUpdate{
+		Updated:  updatedAttribute,
+		OldValue: oldValue,
+		NewValue: newValue,
+	}
+
+	value, err := json.Marshal(update)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	m.Value = sarama.ByteEncoder(value)
+
+	if _, _, err := p.Producer.SendMessage(&m); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/readers/profile.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/readers/profile.go
index 65fa9a062..dcdb14b44 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/readers/profile.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/readers/profile.go
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/accounts"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/httputil"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/jsonerror"
+	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/producers"
+
 	"github.com/matrix-org/util"
 )
 
@@ -84,6 +86,7 @@ func GetAvatarURL(
 // SetAvatarURL implements PUT /profile/{userID}/avatar_url
 func SetAvatarURL(
 	req *http.Request, accountDB *accounts.Database, userID string,
+	producer *producers.UserUpdateProducer,
 ) util.JSONResponse {
 	var r avatarURL
 	if resErr := httputil.UnmarshalJSONRequest(req, &r); resErr != nil {
@@ -97,9 +100,20 @@ func SetAvatarURL(
 	}
 
 	localpart := getLocalPart(userID)
+
+	oldProfile, err := accountDB.GetProfileByLocalpart(localpart)
+	if err != nil {
+		return httputil.LogThenError(req, err)
+	}
+
 	if err := accountDB.SetAvatarURL(localpart, r.AvatarURL); err != nil {
 		return httputil.LogThenError(req, err)
 	}
+
+	if err := producer.SendUpdate(userID, "avatar_url", oldProfile.AvatarURL, r.AvatarURL); err != nil {
+		return httputil.LogThenError(req, err)
+	}
+
 	return util.JSONResponse{
 		Code: 200,
 		JSON: struct{}{},
@@ -127,6 +141,7 @@ func GetDisplayName(
 // SetDisplayName implements PUT /profile/{userID}/displayname
 func SetDisplayName(
 	req *http.Request, accountDB *accounts.Database, userID string,
+	producer *producers.UserUpdateProducer,
 ) util.JSONResponse {
 	var r displayName
 	if resErr := httputil.UnmarshalJSONRequest(req, &r); resErr != nil {
@@ -140,9 +155,20 @@ func SetDisplayName(
 	}
 
 	localpart := getLocalPart(userID)
+
+	oldProfile, err := accountDB.GetProfileByLocalpart(localpart)
+	if err != nil {
+		return httputil.LogThenError(req, err)
+	}
+
 	if err := accountDB.SetDisplayName(localpart, r.DisplayName); err != nil {
 		return httputil.LogThenError(req, err)
 	}
+
+	if err := producer.SendUpdate(userID, "displayname", oldProfile.DisplayName, r.DisplayName); err != nil {
+		return httputil.LogThenError(req, err)
+	}
+
 	return util.JSONResponse{
 		Code: 200,
 		JSON: struct{}{},
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/routing/routing.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/routing/routing.go
index 3482344d3..4d5556d9f 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/routing/routing.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/routing/routing.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ func Setup(
 	deviceDB *devices.Database,
 	federation *gomatrixserverlib.FederationClient,
 	keyRing gomatrixserverlib.KeyRing,
+	userUpdateProducer *producers.UserUpdateProducer,
 ) {
 	apiMux := mux.NewRouter()
 
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ func Setup(
 	r0mux.Handle("/profile/{userID}/avatar_url",
 		common.MakeAuthAPI("profile_avatar_url", deviceDB, func(req *http.Request, device *authtypes.Device) util.JSONResponse {
 			vars := mux.Vars(req)
-			return readers.SetAvatarURL(req, accountDB, vars["userID"])
+			return readers.SetAvatarURL(req, accountDB, vars["userID"], userUpdateProducer)
 		}),
 	).Methods("PUT", "OPTIONS")
 	// Browsers use the OPTIONS HTTP method to check if the CORS policy allows
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ func Setup(
 	r0mux.Handle("/profile/{userID}/displayname",
 		common.MakeAuthAPI("profile_displayname", deviceDB, func(req *http.Request, device *authtypes.Device) util.JSONResponse {
 			vars := mux.Vars(req)
-			return readers.SetDisplayName(req, accountDB, vars["userID"])
+			return readers.SetDisplayName(req, accountDB, vars["userID"], userUpdateProducer)
 		}),
 	).Methods("PUT", "OPTIONS")
 	// Browsers use the OPTIONS HTTP method to check if the CORS policy allows
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go
index 51472b759..a64cc9a07 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ func main() {
 	roomserverProducer, err := producers.NewRoomserverProducer(
 		cfg.Kafka.Addresses, string(cfg.Kafka.Topics.InputRoomEvent),
 	)
+	userUpdateProducer, err := producers.NewUserUpdateProducer(
+		cfg.Kafka.Addresses, string(cfg.Kafka.Topics.UserUpdates),
+	)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Panicf("Failed to setup kafka producers(%q): %s", cfg.Kafka.Addresses, err)
 	}
@@ -86,7 +89,7 @@ func main() {
 	log.Info("Starting client API server on ", cfg.Listen.ClientAPI)
 	routing.Setup(
 		http.DefaultServeMux, http.DefaultClient, *cfg, roomserverProducer,
-		queryAPI, accountDB, deviceDB, federation, keyRing,
+		queryAPI, accountDB, deviceDB, federation, keyRing, userUpdateProducer,
 	)
 	log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(string(cfg.Listen.ClientAPI), nil))
 }
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go
index 9a5a3dcc9..311312a9d 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go
@@ -99,6 +99,8 @@ type Dendrite struct {
 			InputRoomEvent Topic `yaml:"input_room_event"`
 			// Topic for roomserver/api.OutputRoomEvent events.
 			OutputRoomEvent Topic `yaml:"output_room_event"`
+			// Topic for user updates (profile, presence)
+			UserUpdates Topic `yaml:"user_updates"`
 		}
 	} `yaml:"kafka"`