diff --git a/federationsender/storage/postgres/storage.go b/federationsender/storage/postgres/storage.go
index c60f6dc5c..d97b5d296 100644
--- a/federationsender/storage/postgres/storage.go
+++ b/federationsender/storage/postgres/storage.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func (d *Database) UpdateRoom(
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		if lastSentEventID != oldEventID {
+		if lastSentEventID != "" && lastSentEventID != oldEventID {
 			return types.EventIDMismatchError{
 				DatabaseID: lastSentEventID, RoomServerID: oldEventID,
 			}