diff --git a/dendrite-config.yaml b/dendrite-config.yaml
index d04707a61..1df5ca490 100644
--- a/dendrite-config.yaml
+++ b/dendrite-config.yaml
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ database:
     room_server: "postgres://dendrite:itsasecret@localhost/dendrite_roomserver?sslmode=disable"
     server_key: "postgres://dendrite:itsasecret@localhost/dendrite_serverkey?sslmode=disable"
     federation_sender: "postgres://dendrite:itsasecret@localhost/dendrite_federationsender?sslmode=disable"
+    public_rooms_api: "postgres://dendrite:itsasecret@localhost/dendrite_publicroomsapi?sslmode=disable"
 
 # The TCP host:port pairs to bind the internal HTTP APIs to.
 # These shouldn't be exposed to the public internet.
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go
index 324561f68..13dc777be 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config/config.go
@@ -128,6 +128,9 @@ type Dendrite struct {
 		// The FederationSender database stores information used by the FederationSender
 		// It is only accessed by the FederationSender.
 		FederationSender DataSource `yaml:"federation_sender"`
+		// The PublicRoomsAPI database stores information used to compute the public
+		// room directory. It is only accessed by the PublicRoomsAPI server.
+		PublicRoomsAPI DataSource `yaml:"public_rooms_api"`
 	} `yaml:"database"`
 
 	// The internal addresses the components will listen on.