diff --git a/clientapi/routing/createroom.go b/clientapi/routing/createroom.go
index 36837d408..ae1adfac3 100644
--- a/clientapi/routing/createroom.go
+++ b/clientapi/routing/createroom.go
@@ -371,53 +371,60 @@ func createRoom(
 	}
 
 	// If this is a direct message then we should invite the participants.
-	for _, invitee := range r.Invite {
-		// Build the invite event.
-		inviteEvent, err := buildMembershipEvent(
-			req.Context(), invitee, "", accountDB, device, gomatrixserverlib.Invite,
-			roomID, true, cfg, evTime, rsAPI, asAPI,
-		)
-		if err != nil {
-			util.GetLogger(req.Context()).WithError(err).Error("buildMembershipEvent failed")
-			continue
-		}
+	if len(r.Invite) > 0 {
 		// Build some stripped state for the invite.
-		candidates := append(gomatrixserverlib.UnwrapEventHeaders(builtEvents), inviteEvent.Event)
 		var strippedState []gomatrixserverlib.InviteV2StrippedState
-		for _, event := range candidates {
+		for _, event := range builtEvents {
 			switch event.Type() {
 			case gomatrixserverlib.MRoomName:
 				fallthrough
 			case gomatrixserverlib.MRoomCanonicalAlias:
 				fallthrough
+			case "m.room.avatar": // TODO: move this to gmsl
+				fallthrough
 			case "m.room.encryption": // TODO: move this to gmsl
 				fallthrough
 			case gomatrixserverlib.MRoomMember:
 				fallthrough
 			case gomatrixserverlib.MRoomJoinRules:
+				ev := event.Unwrap()
 				strippedState = append(
 					strippedState,
-					gomatrixserverlib.NewInviteV2StrippedState(&event),
+					gomatrixserverlib.NewInviteV2StrippedState(&ev),
 				)
 			}
 		}
-		// Send the invite event to the roomserver.
-		err = roomserverAPI.SendInvite(
-			req.Context(), rsAPI,
-			inviteEvent.Headered(roomVersion),
-			strippedState,         // invite room state
-			cfg.Matrix.ServerName, // send as server
-			nil,                   // transaction ID
-		)
-		switch e := err.(type) {
-		case *roomserverAPI.PerformError:
-			return e.JSONResponse()
-		case nil:
-		default:
-			util.GetLogger(req.Context()).WithError(err).Error("roomserverAPI.SendInvite failed")
-			return util.JSONResponse{
-				Code: http.StatusInternalServerError,
-				JSON: jsonerror.InternalServerError(),
+
+		// Process the invites.
+		for _, invitee := range r.Invite {
+			// Build the invite event.
+			inviteEvent, err := buildMembershipEvent(
+				req.Context(), invitee, "", accountDB, device, gomatrixserverlib.Invite,
+				roomID, true, cfg, evTime, rsAPI, asAPI,
+			)
+			if err != nil {
+				util.GetLogger(req.Context()).WithError(err).Error("buildMembershipEvent failed")
+				continue
+			}
+			// Send the invite event to the roomserver.
+			err = roomserverAPI.SendInvite(
+				req.Context(),
+				rsAPI,
+				inviteEvent.Headered(roomVersion),
+				strippedState,         // invite room state
+				cfg.Matrix.ServerName, // send as server
+				nil,                   // transaction ID
+			)
+			switch e := err.(type) {
+			case *roomserverAPI.PerformError:
+				return e.JSONResponse()
+			case nil:
+			default:
+				util.GetLogger(req.Context()).WithError(err).Error("roomserverAPI.SendInvite failed")
+				return util.JSONResponse{
+					Code: http.StatusInternalServerError,
+					JSON: jsonerror.InternalServerError(),
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/roomserver/internal/perform_invite.go b/roomserver/internal/perform_invite.go
index 34c61f978..63a268622 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/perform_invite.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/perform_invite.go
@@ -95,8 +95,10 @@ func (r *RoomserverInternalAPI) PerformInvite(
 	}
 
 	if isOriginLocal {
-		// check that the user is allowed to do this. We can only do this check if it is
-		// a local invite as we have the auth events, else we have to take it on trust.
+		// The invite originated locally. Therefore we have a responsibility to
+		// try and see if the user is allowed to make this invite. We can't do
+		// this for invites coming in over federation - we have to take those on
+		// trust.
 		_, err = checkAuthEvents(ctx, r.DB, event, event.AuthEventIDs())
 		if err != nil {
 			log.WithError(err).WithField("event_id", event.EventID()).WithField("auth_event_ids", event.AuthEventIDs()).Error(
@@ -133,27 +135,44 @@ func (r *RoomserverInternalAPI) PerformInvite(
 			}
 			event = fsRes.Event
 		}
-	}
 
-	// Send the invite event to the roomserver input stream. This will
-	// notify existing users in the room about the invite, update the
-	// membership table and ensure that the event is ready and available
-	// to use as an auth event when accepting the invite. We don't
-	// check the return value here because it may be possible that we
-	// don't know about this room yet if we received the invite over
-	// federation.
-	inputReq := &api.InputRoomEventsRequest{
-		InputRoomEvents: []api.InputRoomEvent{
-			{
-				Kind:         api.KindNew,
-				Event:        event,
-				AuthEventIDs: event.AuthEventIDs(),
-				SendAsServer: string(r.Cfg.Matrix.ServerName),
+		// Send the invite event to the roomserver input stream. This will
+		// notify existing users in the room about the invite, update the
+		// membership table and ensure that the event is ready and available
+		// to use as an auth event when accepting the invite.
+		inputReq := &api.InputRoomEventsRequest{
+			InputRoomEvents: []api.InputRoomEvent{
+				{
+					Kind:         api.KindNew,
+					Event:        event,
+					AuthEventIDs: event.AuthEventIDs(),
+					SendAsServer: string(r.Cfg.Matrix.ServerName),
+				},
 			},
-		},
+		}
+		inputRes := &api.InputRoomEventsResponse{}
+		if err = r.InputRoomEvents(context.Background(), inputReq, inputRes); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("r.InputRoomEvents: %w", err)
+		}
+	} else {
+		// The invite originated over federation. Process the membership
+		// update, which will notify the sync API etc about the incoming
+		// invite.
+		updater, err := r.DB.MembershipUpdater(ctx, roomID, targetUserID, isTargetLocal, req.RoomVersion)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("r.DB.MembershipUpdater: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		unwrapped := event.Unwrap()
+		outputUpdates, err := updateToInviteMembership(updater, &unwrapped, nil, req.Event.RoomVersion)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("updateToInviteMembership: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		if err = r.WriteOutputEvents(roomID, outputUpdates); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("r.WriteOutputEvents: %w", err)
+		}
 	}
-	inputRes := &api.InputRoomEventsResponse{}
-	go r.InputRoomEvents(context.Background(), inputReq, inputRes) // nolint:errcheck
 
 	return nil
 }