diff --git a/clientapi/routing/sendevent.go b/clientapi/routing/sendevent.go
index 224013403..a167a5a77 100644
--- a/clientapi/routing/sendevent.go
+++ b/clientapi/routing/sendevent.go
@@ -318,8 +318,8 @@ func generateSendEvent(
 	senderID, err := rsAPI.QuerySenderIDForUser(ctx, *validRoomID, *fullUserID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, &util.JSONResponse{
-			Code: http.StatusNotFound,
-			JSON: spec.NotFound("Unable to find senderID for user"),
+			Code: http.StatusInternalServerError,
+			JSON: spec.NotFound("internal server error"),
 		}
 	} else if senderID == nil {
 		// TODO: is it always the case that lack of a sender ID means they're not joined?
diff --git a/federationapi/consumers/presence.go b/federationapi/consumers/presence.go
index a0dab7ab9..dd100bc08 100644
--- a/federationapi/consumers/presence.go
+++ b/federationapi/consumers/presence.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func (t *OutputPresenceConsumer) onMessage(ctx context.Context, msgs []*nats.Msg
 
 	parsedUserID, err := spec.NewUserID(userID, true)
 	if err != nil {
-		util.GetLogger(ctx).WithError(err).WithField("user_id", userID).Error("failed to extract domain from receipt sender")
+		util.GetLogger(ctx).WithError(err).WithField("user_id", userID).Error("invalid user ID")
 		return true
 	}