diff --git a/roomserver/api/api.go b/roomserver/api/api.go
index bafde91c9..fec28841e 100644
--- a/roomserver/api/api.go
+++ b/roomserver/api/api.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package api
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/ed25519"
 
 	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib/spec"
@@ -66,6 +67,9 @@ type RoomserverInternalAPI interface {
 		req *QueryAuthChainRequest,
 		res *QueryAuthChainResponse,
 	) error
+
+	// GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey gets the user room key for the specified user. If no key exists yet, a new one is created.
+	GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx context.Context, userID spec.UserID, roomID spec.RoomID) (ed25519.PrivateKey, error)
 }
 
 type InputRoomEventsAPI interface {
diff --git a/roomserver/internal/api.go b/roomserver/internal/api.go
index 35b7383a9..4bcd3f3ed 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/api.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/api.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package internal
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/ed25519"
 
 	"github.com/getsentry/sentry-go"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib"
@@ -270,3 +271,23 @@ func (r *RoomserverInternalAPI) PerformForget(
 ) error {
 	return r.Forgetter.PerformForget(ctx, req, resp)
 }
+
+// GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey gets the user room key for the specified user. If no key exists yet, a new one is created.
+func (r *RoomserverInternalAPI) GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx context.Context, userID spec.UserID, roomID spec.RoomID) (ed25519.PrivateKey, error) {
+	key, err := r.DB.SelectUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx, userID, roomID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	// no key found, create one
+	if len(key) == 0 {
+		_, key, err = ed25519.GenerateKey(nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		key, err = r.DB.InsertUserRoomPrivatePublicKey(ctx, userID, roomID, key)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return key, nil
+}
diff --git a/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_create_room.go b/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_create_room.go
index 475418aa3..121b257ed 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_create_room.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_create_room.go
@@ -354,7 +354,30 @@ func (c *Creator) PerformCreateRoom(ctx context.Context, userID spec.UserID, roo
 			SendAsServer: api.DoNotSendToOtherServers,
 		})
 	}
-	if err = api.SendInputRoomEvents(ctx, c.RSAPI, userID.Domain(), inputs, false); err != nil {
+
+	// first send the `m.room.create` event, so we have a roomNID
+	if err = api.SendInputRoomEvents(ctx, c.RSAPI, userID.Domain(), inputs[:1], false); err != nil {
+		util.GetLogger(ctx).WithError(err).Error("roomserverAPI.SendInputRoomEvents failed")
+		return "", &util.JSONResponse{
+			Code: http.StatusInternalServerError,
+			JSON: spec.InternalServerError{},
+		}
+	}
+
+	// create user room key if needed
+	if createRequest.RoomVersion == gomatrixserverlib.RoomVersionPseudoIDs {
+		_, err = c.RSAPI.GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx, userID, roomID)
+		if err != nil {
+			util.GetLogger(ctx).WithError(err).Error("GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey failed")
+			return "", &util.JSONResponse{
+				Code: http.StatusInternalServerError,
+				JSON: spec.InternalServerError{},
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// send the remaining events
+	if err = api.SendInputRoomEvents(ctx, c.RSAPI, userID.Domain(), inputs[1:], false); err != nil {
 		util.GetLogger(ctx).WithError(err).Error("roomserverAPI.SendInputRoomEvents failed")
 		return "", &util.JSONResponse{
 			Code: http.StatusInternalServerError,
diff --git a/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_invite.go b/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_invite.go
index 1440daad4..cc2c5c191 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_invite.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_invite.go
@@ -183,6 +183,14 @@ func (r *Inviter) PerformInvite(
 		inviteEvent = event
 	}
 
+	// if we invited a local user, we can also create a user room key, if it doesn't exist yet.
+	if isTargetLocal && event.Version() == gomatrixserverlib.RoomVersionPseudoIDs {
+		_, err = r.RSAPI.GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx, *invitedUser, *validRoomID)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get user room private key: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Send the invite event to the roomserver input stream. This will
 	// notify existing users in the room about the invite, update the
 	// membership table and ensure that the event is ready and available
diff --git a/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_join.go b/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_join.go
index 83c3b7c3e..74ed87c74 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_join.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/perform/perform_join.go
@@ -293,6 +293,15 @@ func (r *Joiner) performJoinRoomByID(
 
 	switch err.(type) {
 	case nil:
+		// create user room key if needed
+		if buildRes.RoomVersion == gomatrixserverlib.RoomVersionPseudoIDs {
+			_, err = r.RSAPI.GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx, *userID, *roomID)
+			if err != nil {
+				logrus.WithError(err).Error("GetOrCreateUserRoomPrivateKey failed")
+				return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get user room private key: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
+
 		// The room join is local. Send the new join event into the
 		// roomserver. First of all check that the user isn't already
 		// a member of the room. This is best-effort (as in we won't
diff --git a/roomserver/storage/shared/storage.go b/roomserver/storage/shared/storage.go
index 85a1ba7a1..d7ca3cefd 100644
--- a/roomserver/storage/shared/storage.go
+++ b/roomserver/storage/shared/storage.go
@@ -1686,7 +1686,7 @@ func (d *Database) SelectUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx context.Context, userID spec.Use
 			return rErr
 		}
 		if roomInfo == nil {
-			return nil
+			return eventutil.ErrRoomNoExists{}
 		}
 
 		key, sErr = d.UserRoomKeyTable.SelectUserRoomPrivateKey(ctx, txn, stateKeyNID, roomInfo.RoomNID)