diff --git a/userapi/storage/shared/storage.go b/userapi/storage/shared/storage.go
index 0cf713dac..8c128cb9f 100644
--- a/userapi/storage/shared/storage.go
+++ b/userapi/storage/shared/storage.go
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@ func (d *Database) CreateDevice(
 	ctx context.Context, localpart string, deviceID *string, accessToken string,
 	displayName *string, ipAddr, userAgent string,
 ) (dev *api.Device, returnErr error) {
-	if deviceID != nil {
+	if deviceID != nil && *deviceID != "" {
 		returnErr = d.Writer.Do(d.DB, nil, func(txn *sql.Tx) error {
 			var err error
 			// Revoke existing tokens for this device