diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d958e5cbf..5c896a377 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/matrix-org/go-http-js-libp2p v0.0.0-20200518170932-783164aeeda4
 	github.com/matrix-org/go-sqlite3-js v0.0.0-20200522092705-bc8506ccbcf3
 	github.com/matrix-org/gomatrix v0.0.0-20190528120928-7df988a63f26
-	github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib v0.0.0-20200708143827-8bfb7222929b
+	github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib v0.0.0-20200708152912-d034ccb75e2d
 	github.com/matrix-org/naffka v0.0.0-20200422140631-181f1ee7401f
 	github.com/matrix-org/util v0.0.0-20190711121626-527ce5ddefc7
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v2.0.2+incompatible
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 0e7b0b81b..1fd01ce9e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -424,6 +424,8 @@ github.com/matrix-org/gomatrix v0.0.0-20190528120928-7df988a63f26 h1:Hr3zjRsq2bh
 github.com/matrix-org/gomatrix v0.0.0-20190528120928-7df988a63f26/go.mod h1:3fxX6gUjWyI/2Bt7J1OLhpCzOfO/bB3AiX0cJtEKud0=
 github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib v0.0.0-20200708143827-8bfb7222929b h1:mHFK2pcy+fhettE42aoq+JTcj3ysqFqkQLlUpC33Fwg=
 github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib v0.0.0-20200708143827-8bfb7222929b/go.mod h1:JsAzE1Ll3+gDWS9JSUHPJiiyAksvOOnGWF2nXdg4ZzU=
+github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib v0.0.0-20200708152912-d034ccb75e2d h1:v3MGEwCLlFjzZcYJu+aI3kUoNxQyCM3DUurjJFlaI04=
+github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib v0.0.0-20200708152912-d034ccb75e2d/go.mod h1:JsAzE1Ll3+gDWS9JSUHPJiiyAksvOOnGWF2nXdg4ZzU=
 github.com/matrix-org/naffka v0.0.0-20200422140631-181f1ee7401f h1:pRz4VTiRCO4zPlEMc3ESdUOcW4PXHH4Kj+YDz1XyE+Y=
 github.com/matrix-org/naffka v0.0.0-20200422140631-181f1ee7401f/go.mod h1:y0oDTjZDv5SM9a2rp3bl+CU+bvTRINQsdb7YlDql5Go=
 github.com/matrix-org/util v0.0.0-20190711121626-527ce5ddefc7 h1:ntrLa/8xVzeSs8vHFHK25k0C+NV74sYMJnNSg5NoSRo=
diff --git a/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go b/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go
index 62d157bc2..ba2b2055b 100644
--- a/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go
+++ b/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go
@@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ func (s *OutputRoomEventConsumer) onMessage(msg *sarama.ConsumerMessage) error {
 
 	switch output.Type {
 	case api.OutputTypeNewRoomEvent:
+		// Ignore redaction events. We will add them to the database when they are
+		// validated (when we receive OutputTypeRedactedEvent)
+		if output.NewRoomEvent.Event.Type() == gomatrixserverlib.MRoomRedaction && output.NewRoomEvent.Event.StateKey() == nil {
+			return nil
+		}
 		return s.onNewRoomEvent(context.TODO(), *output.NewRoomEvent)
 	case api.OutputTypeNewInviteEvent:
 		return s.onNewInviteEvent(context.TODO(), *output.NewInviteEvent)
@@ -96,21 +101,25 @@ func (s *OutputRoomEventConsumer) onMessage(msg *sarama.ConsumerMessage) error {
 	}
 }
 
-func (c *OutputRoomEventConsumer) onRedactEvent(
+func (s *OutputRoomEventConsumer) onRedactEvent(
 	ctx context.Context, msg api.OutputRedactedEvent,
 ) error {
-	err := c.db.RedactEvent(ctx, msg.RedactedEventID, &msg.RedactedBecause)
+	err := s.db.RedactEvent(ctx, msg.RedactedEventID, &msg.RedactedBecause)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.WithError(err).Error("RedactEvent error'd")
+		return err
 	}
-	return err
+	// fake a room event so we notify clients about the redaction, as if it were
+	// a normal event.
+	return s.onNewRoomEvent(ctx, api.OutputNewRoomEvent{
+		Event: msg.RedactedBecause,
+	})
 }
 
 func (s *OutputRoomEventConsumer) onNewRoomEvent(
 	ctx context.Context, msg api.OutputNewRoomEvent,
 ) error {
 	ev := msg.Event
-
 	addsStateEvents := msg.AddsState()
 
 	ev, err := s.updateStateEvent(ev)