diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go
index c5101d71a..6d77f6ef2 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/consumers/roomserver.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
-	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/events"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/config"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/roomserver/api"
@@ -42,9 +41,9 @@ type OutputRoomEvent struct {
 }
 
 type prevMembership struct {
-	PrevContent events.MemberContent `json:"prev_content"`
-	PrevID      string               `json:"replaces_state"`
-	UserID      string               `json:"prev_sender"`
+	PrevContent json.RawMessage `json:"prev_content"`
+	PrevID      string          `json:"replaces_state"`
+	UserID      string          `json:"prev_sender"`
 }
 
 // NewOutputRoomEvent creates a new OutputRoomEvent consumer. Call Start() to begin consuming from room servers.
@@ -114,13 +113,13 @@ func (s *OutputRoomEvent) onMessage(msg *sarama.ConsumerMessage) error {
 		}).Panicf("roomserver output log: state event lookup failure")
 	}
 
-	ev, err = s.updateMemberEvent(ev, s.keyID, s.privateKey)
+	ev, err = s.updateStateEvent(ev, s.keyID, s.privateKey)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	for i := range addsStateEvents {
-		addsStateEvents[i], err = s.updateMemberEvent(addsStateEvents[i], s.keyID, s.privateKey)
+		addsStateEvents[i], err = s.updateStateEvent(addsStateEvents[i], s.keyID, s.privateKey)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -202,22 +201,11 @@ func (s *OutputRoomEvent) lookupStateEvents(
 	return result, nil
 }
 
-func (s *OutputRoomEvent) updateMemberEvent(
+func (s *OutputRoomEvent) updateStateEvent(
 	event gomatrixserverlib.Event, keyID gomatrixserverlib.KeyID,
 	privateKey []byte,
 ) (gomatrixserverlib.Event, error) {
-	if event.Type() != "m.room.member" {
-		return event, nil
-	}
-	membership, err := event.Membership()
-	if err != nil {
-		return event, err
-	}
-	if membership != "join" {
-		return event, nil
-	}
-
-	prevEvent, err := s.db.GetMembershipEvent(event.RoomID(), *event.StateKey())
+	prevEvent, err := s.db.GetStateEvent(event.Type(), event.RoomID(), *event.StateKey())
 	if err != nil {
 		return event, err
 	}
@@ -226,13 +214,8 @@ func (s *OutputRoomEvent) updateMemberEvent(
 		return event, nil
 	}
 
-	var content events.MemberContent
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(prevEvent.Content(), &content); err != nil {
-		return event, err
-	}
-
 	prev := prevMembership{
-		PrevContent: content,
+		PrevContent: prevEvent.Content(),
 		PrevID:      prevEvent.EventID(),
 		UserID:      prevEvent.Sender(),
 	}
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/current_room_state_table.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/current_room_state_table.go
index 4ebaa5be3..64afaede8 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/current_room_state_table.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/current_room_state_table.go
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ const selectCurrentStateSQL = "" +
 const selectJoinedUsersSQL = "" +
 	"SELECT room_id, state_key FROM current_room_state WHERE type = 'm.room.member' AND membership = 'join'"
 
-const selectJoinEventForUserSQL = "" +
-	"SELECT event_json FROM current_room_state WHERE type = 'm.room.member' AND membership = 'join' AND room_id = $1 AND state_key = $2"
+const selectStateEventSQL = "" +
+	"SELECT event_json FROM current_room_state WHERE type = $1 AND room_id = $2 AND state_key = $3"
 
 const selectEventsWithEventIDsSQL = "" +
 	"SELECT added_at, event_json FROM current_room_state WHERE event_id = ANY($1)"
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ type currentRoomStateStatements struct {
 	selectCurrentStateStmt          *sql.Stmt
 	selectJoinedUsersStmt           *sql.Stmt
 	selectEventsWithEventIDsStmt    *sql.Stmt
-	selectJoinEventForUserStmt      *sql.Stmt
+	selectStateEventStmt            *sql.Stmt
 }
 
 func (s *currentRoomStateStatements) prepare(db *sql.DB) (err error) {
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func (s *currentRoomStateStatements) prepare(db *sql.DB) (err error) {
 	if s.selectEventsWithEventIDsStmt, err = db.Prepare(selectEventsWithEventIDsSQL); err != nil {
 		return
 	}
-	if s.selectJoinEventForUserStmt, err = db.Prepare(selectJoinEventForUserSQL); err != nil {
+	if s.selectStateEventStmt, err = db.Prepare(selectStateEventSQL); err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 	return
@@ -203,9 +203,9 @@ func rowsToEvents(rows *sql.Rows) ([]gomatrixserverlib.Event, error) {
 	return result, nil
 }
 
-func (s *currentRoomStateStatements) selectJoinEventForUser(roomID string, userID string) (*gomatrixserverlib.Event, error) {
+func (s *currentRoomStateStatements) selectStateEvent(evType string, roomID string, stateKey string) (*gomatrixserverlib.Event, error) {
 	var res []byte
-	if err := s.selectJoinEventForUserStmt.QueryRow(roomID, userID).Scan(&res); err == sql.ErrNoRows {
+	if err := s.selectStateEventStmt.QueryRow(evType, roomID, stateKey).Scan(&res); err == sql.ErrNoRows {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
 	ev, err := gomatrixserverlib.NewEventFromTrustedJSON(res, false)
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/syncserver.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/syncserver.go
index 2ab63f718..46231c776 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/syncserver.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/storage/syncserver.go
@@ -141,9 +141,11 @@ func (d *SyncServerDatabase) updateRoomState(
 	return nil
 }
 
-// GetMembershipEvent returns the Matrix join event for a given user into a given room
-func (d *SyncServerDatabase) GetMembershipEvent(roomID string, userID string) (*gomatrixserverlib.Event, error) {
-	return d.roomstate.selectJoinEventForUser(roomID, userID)
+// GetStateEvent returns the Matrix state event of a given type for a given room with a given state key
+// If no event could be found, returns nil
+// If there was an issue during the retrieval, returns an error
+func (d *SyncServerDatabase) GetStateEvent(evType string, roomID string, stateKey string) (*gomatrixserverlib.Event, error) {
+	return d.roomstate.selectStateEvent(evType, roomID, stateKey)
 }
 
 // PartitionOffsets implements common.PartitionStorer