diff --git a/cmd/resolve-state/main.go b/cmd/resolve-state/main.go
index 74d41c2aa..6852ab4fb 100644
--- a/cmd/resolve-state/main.go
+++ b/cmd/resolve-state/main.go
@@ -54,12 +54,10 @@ func main() {
 
 	fmt.Println("Fetching", len(snapshotNIDs), "snapshot NIDs")
 
-	cache, err := caching.NewRistrettoCache(128*1024*1024, time.Hour, true)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-
-	roomserverDB, err := storage.Open(base, &cfg.RoomServer.Database, cache)
+	roomserverDB, err := storage.Open(
+		base, &cfg.RoomServer.Database,
+		caching.NewRistrettoCache(128*1024*1024, time.Hour, true),
+	)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
diff --git a/federationapi/federationapi_keys_test.go b/federationapi/federationapi_keys_test.go
index 5860ff2d0..b9ccb57e8 100644
--- a/federationapi/federationapi_keys_test.go
+++ b/federationapi/federationapi_keys_test.go
@@ -64,10 +64,7 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 			}
 
 			// Create a new cache but don't enable prometheus!
-			s.cache, err = caching.NewRistrettoCache(8*1024*1024, time.Hour, false)
-			if err != nil {
-				panic("can't create cache: " + err.Error())
-			}
+			s.cache = caching.NewRistrettoCache(8*1024*1024, time.Hour, false)
 
 			// Create a temporary directory for JetStream.
 			d, err := ioutil.TempDir("./", "jetstream*")
diff --git a/internal/caching/impl_ristretto.go b/internal/caching/impl_ristretto.go
index 9a5224129..56d2f70f9 100644
--- a/internal/caching/impl_ristretto.go
+++ b/internal/caching/impl_ristretto.go
@@ -29,7 +29,19 @@ import (
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promauto"
 )
 
-func mustCreateCache(maxCost config.DataUnit, enablePrometheus bool) *ristretto.Cache {
+const (
+	roomVersionsCache byte = iota + 1
+	serverKeysCache
+	roomIDsCache
+	roomEventsCache
+	roomInfosCache
+	federationPDUsCache
+	federationEDUsCache
+	spaceSummaryRoomsCache
+	lazyLoadingCache
+)
+
+func NewRistrettoCache(maxCost config.DataUnit, maxAge time.Duration, enablePrometheus bool) *Caches {
 	cache, err := ristretto.NewCache(&ristretto.Config{
 		NumCounters: 1e5,
 		MaxCost:     int64(maxCost),
@@ -58,23 +70,6 @@ func mustCreateCache(maxCost config.DataUnit, enablePrometheus bool) *ristretto.
 			return float64(cache.Metrics.CostAdded() - cache.Metrics.CostEvicted())
 		})
 	}
-	return cache
-}
-
-const (
-	roomVersionsCache byte = iota + 1
-	serverKeysCache
-	roomIDsCache
-	roomEventsCache
-	roomInfosCache
-	federationPDUsCache
-	federationEDUsCache
-	spaceSummaryRoomsCache
-	lazyLoadingCache
-)
-
-func NewRistrettoCache(maxCost config.DataUnit, maxAge time.Duration, enablePrometheus bool) (*Caches, error) {
-	cache := mustCreateCache(maxCost, enablePrometheus)
 	return &Caches{
 		RoomVersions: &RistrettoCachePartition[string, gomatrixserverlib.RoomVersion]{
 			cache:  cache,
@@ -133,7 +128,7 @@ func NewRistrettoCache(maxCost config.DataUnit, maxAge time.Duration, enableProm
 			Mutable: true,
 			MaxAge:  maxAge,
 		},
-	}, nil
+	}
 }
 
 type RistrettoCostedCachePartition[k keyable, v costable] struct {
diff --git a/roomserver/internal/input/input_test.go b/roomserver/internal/input/input_test.go
index 9108f0ad9..4708560ac 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/input/input_test.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/input/input_test.go
@@ -48,10 +48,6 @@ func TestSingleTransactionOnInput(t *testing.T) {
 		Kind:  api.KindOutlier, // don't panic if we generate an output event
 		Event: event.Headered(gomatrixserverlib.RoomVersionV6),
 	}
-	cache, err := caching.NewRistrettoCache(8*1024*1024, time.Hour, false)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
 	db, err := storage.Open(
 		nil,
 		&config.DatabaseOptions{
@@ -59,7 +55,7 @@ func TestSingleTransactionOnInput(t *testing.T) {
 			MaxOpenConnections: 1,
 			MaxIdleConnections: 1,
 		},
-		cache,
+		caching.NewRistrettoCache(8*1024*1024, time.Hour, false),
 	)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Logf("PostgreSQL not available (%s), skipping", err)
diff --git a/setup/base/base.go b/setup/base/base.go
index 991d2f25c..93ab87de1 100644
--- a/setup/base/base.go
+++ b/setup/base/base.go
@@ -161,11 +161,6 @@ func NewBaseDendrite(cfg *config.Dendrite, componentName string, options ...Base
 		}
 	}
 
-	cache, err := caching.NewRistrettoCache(cfg.Global.Cache.EstimatedMaxSize, cfg.Global.Cache.MaxAge, enableMetrics)
-	if err != nil {
-		logrus.WithError(err).Fatalf("Failed to create cache")
-	}
-
 	var dnsCache *gomatrixserverlib.DNSCache
 	if cfg.Global.DNSCache.Enabled {
 		dnsCache = gomatrixserverlib.NewDNSCache(
@@ -233,7 +228,7 @@ func NewBaseDendrite(cfg *config.Dendrite, componentName string, options ...Base
 		UseHTTPAPIs:            useHTTPAPIs,
 		tracerCloser:           closer,
 		Cfg:                    cfg,
-		Caches:                 cache,
+		Caches:                 caching.NewRistrettoCache(cfg.Global.Cache.EstimatedMaxSize, cfg.Global.Cache.MaxAge, enableMetrics),
 		DNSCache:               dnsCache,
 		PublicClientAPIMux:     mux.NewRouter().SkipClean(true).PathPrefix(httputil.PublicClientPathPrefix).Subrouter().UseEncodedPath(),
 		PublicFederationAPIMux: mux.NewRouter().SkipClean(true).PathPrefix(httputil.PublicFederationPathPrefix).Subrouter().UseEncodedPath(),