diff --git a/clientapi/routing/routing.go b/clientapi/routing/routing.go
index 956c402a3..9b7d319ad 100644
--- a/clientapi/routing/routing.go
+++ b/clientapi/routing/routing.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package routing
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
@@ -117,40 +118,48 @@ func Setup(
 		).Methods(http.MethodGet, http.MethodPost, http.MethodOptions)
 	}
 
-	synapseAdminRouter.Handle("/admin/v1/send_server_notice/{txnID}",
-		httputil.MakeAuthAPI("send_server_notice", userAPI, func(req *http.Request, device *userapi.Device) util.JSONResponse {
-			// not specced, but ensure we're rate limiting requests to this endpoint
-			if r := rateLimits.Limit(req); r != nil {
-				return *r
-			}
-			vars, err := httputil.URLDecodeMapValues(mux.Vars(req))
-			if err != nil {
-				return util.ErrorResponse(err)
-			}
-			txnID := vars["txnID"]
-			return SendServerNotice(
-				req, &cfg.Matrix.ServerNotices,
-				cfg, userAPI, rsAPI, accountDB, asAPI,
-				device,
-				&txnID, transactionsCache,
-			)
-		}),
-	).Methods(http.MethodPut, http.MethodOptions)
+	// server notifications
+	if cfg.Matrix.ServerNotices.Enabled {
+		serverNotificationSender, err := getSenderDevice(context.Background(), userAPI, accountDB, cfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			logrus.WithError(err).Fatal("unable to get account for sending sending server notices")
+		}
 
-	synapseAdminRouter.Handle("/admin/v1/send_server_notice",
-		httputil.MakeAuthAPI("send_server_notice", userAPI, func(req *http.Request, device *userapi.Device) util.JSONResponse {
-			// not specced, but ensure we're rate limiting requests to this endpoint
-			if r := rateLimits.Limit(req); r != nil {
-				return *r
-			}
-			return SendServerNotice(
-				req, &cfg.Matrix.ServerNotices,
-				cfg, userAPI, rsAPI, accountDB, asAPI,
-				device,
-				nil, transactionsCache,
-			)
-		}),
-	).Methods(http.MethodPost, http.MethodOptions)
+		synapseAdminRouter.Handle("/admin/v1/send_server_notice/{txnID}",
+			httputil.MakeAuthAPI("send_server_notice", userAPI, func(req *http.Request, device *userapi.Device) util.JSONResponse {
+				// not specced, but ensure we're rate limiting requests to this endpoint
+				if r := rateLimits.Limit(req); r != nil {
+					return *r
+				}
+				vars, err := httputil.URLDecodeMapValues(mux.Vars(req))
+				if err != nil {
+					return util.ErrorResponse(err)
+				}
+				txnID := vars["txnID"]
+				return SendServerNotice(
+					req, &cfg.Matrix.ServerNotices,
+					cfg, userAPI, rsAPI, accountDB, asAPI,
+					device, serverNotificationSender,
+					&txnID, transactionsCache,
+				)
+			}),
+		).Methods(http.MethodPut, http.MethodOptions)
+
+		synapseAdminRouter.Handle("/admin/v1/send_server_notice",
+			httputil.MakeAuthAPI("send_server_notice", userAPI, func(req *http.Request, device *userapi.Device) util.JSONResponse {
+				// not specced, but ensure we're rate limiting requests to this endpoint
+				if r := rateLimits.Limit(req); r != nil {
+					return *r
+				}
+				return SendServerNotice(
+					req, &cfg.Matrix.ServerNotices,
+					cfg, userAPI, rsAPI, accountDB, asAPI,
+					device, serverNotificationSender,
+					nil, transactionsCache,
+				)
+			}),
+		).Methods(http.MethodPost, http.MethodOptions)
+	}
 
 	r0mux := publicAPIMux.PathPrefix("/r0").Subrouter()
 	unstableMux := publicAPIMux.PathPrefix("/unstable").Subrouter()
diff --git a/clientapi/routing/server_notices.go b/clientapi/routing/server_notices.go
index ac75dce84..b485a0048 100644
--- a/clientapi/routing/server_notices.go
+++ b/clientapi/routing/server_notices.go
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ func SendServerNotice(
 	accountsDB accounts.Database,
 	asAPI appserviceAPI.AppServiceQueryAPI,
 	device *userapi.Device,
+	senderDevice *userapi.Device,
 	txnID *string,
 	txnCache *transactions.Cache,
 ) util.JSONResponse {
@@ -139,15 +140,10 @@ func SendServerNotice(
 		roomVersion = gomatrixserverlib.RoomVersionV6
 	)
 
-	senderDevice, err := getSenderDevice(ctx, userAPI, accountsDB, cfgClient)
-	if err != nil {
-		logrus.WithError(err).Error("unable to get device")
-		return util.ErrorResponse(err)
-	}
 	// create a new room for the user
 	if len(commonRooms) == 0 {
 		powerLevelContent := eventutil.InitialPowerLevelsContent(senderUserID)
-		powerLevelContent.Users[r.UserID] = -10
+		powerLevelContent.Users[r.UserID] = -10 // taken from Synapse
 		pl, err := json.Marshal(powerLevelContent)
 		if err != nil {
 			return util.ErrorResponse(err)