diff --git a/syncapi/storage/postgres/account_data_table.go b/syncapi/storage/postgres/account_data_table.go
index 7c0d03030..e9c72058b 100644
--- a/syncapi/storage/postgres/account_data_table.go
+++ b/syncapi/storage/postgres/account_data_table.go
@@ -105,7 +105,6 @@ func (s *accountDataStatements) SelectAccountDataInRange(
 	accountDataEventFilter *gomatrixserverlib.EventFilter,
 ) (data map[string][]string, pos types.StreamPosition, err error) {
 	data = make(map[string][]string)
-	pos = r.High()
 
 	rows, err := s.selectAccountDataInRangeStmt.QueryContext(ctx, userID, r.Low(), r.High(),
 		pq.StringArray(filterConvertTypeWildcardToSQL(accountDataEventFilter.Types)),
@@ -120,7 +119,6 @@ func (s *accountDataStatements) SelectAccountDataInRange(
 	var dataType string
 	var roomID string
 	var id types.StreamPosition
-	var highest types.StreamPosition
 
 	for rows.Next() {
 		if err = rows.Scan(&id, &roomID, &dataType); err != nil {
@@ -132,12 +130,12 @@ func (s *accountDataStatements) SelectAccountDataInRange(
 		} else {
 			data[roomID] = []string{dataType}
 		}
-		if id > highest {
-			highest = id
+		if id > pos {
+			pos = id
 		}
 	}
-	if highest < pos {
-		pos = highest
+	if pos == 0 {
+		pos = r.High()
 	}
 	return data, pos, rows.Err()
 }
diff --git a/syncapi/storage/sqlite3/account_data_table.go b/syncapi/storage/sqlite3/account_data_table.go
index 1bbfe9c96..21a16dcd3 100644
--- a/syncapi/storage/sqlite3/account_data_table.go
+++ b/syncapi/storage/sqlite3/account_data_table.go
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ func (s *accountDataStatements) SelectAccountDataInRange(
 	r types.Range,
 	filter *gomatrixserverlib.EventFilter,
 ) (data map[string][]string, pos types.StreamPosition, err error) {
-	pos = r.High()
 	data = make(map[string][]string)
 	stmt, params, err := prepareWithFilters(
 		s.db, nil, selectAccountDataInRangeSQL,
@@ -116,7 +115,6 @@ func (s *accountDataStatements) SelectAccountDataInRange(
 	var dataType string
 	var roomID string
 	var id types.StreamPosition
-	var highest types.StreamPosition
 
 	for rows.Next() {
 		if err = rows.Scan(&id, &roomID, &dataType); err != nil {
@@ -128,12 +126,12 @@ func (s *accountDataStatements) SelectAccountDataInRange(
 		} else {
 			data[roomID] = []string{dataType}
 		}
-		if id > highest {
-			highest = id
+		if id > pos {
+			pos = id
 		}
 	}
-	if highest < pos {
-		pos = highest
+	if pos == 0 {
+		pos = r.High()
 	}
 	return data, pos, nil
 }