diff --git a/roomserver/internal/input/input_latest_events.go b/roomserver/internal/input/input_latest_events.go
index ec03d6f13..dd0bd6049 100644
--- a/roomserver/internal/input/input_latest_events.go
+++ b/roomserver/internal/input/input_latest_events.go
@@ -83,10 +83,30 @@ func (r *Inputer) updateLatestEvents(
 		historyVisibility: historyVisibility,
 	}
 
-	if err = u.doUpdateLatestEvents(); err != nil {
+	var updates []api.OutputEvent
+	updates, err = u.doUpdateLatestEvents()
+	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("u.doUpdateLatestEvents: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Send the event to the output logs.
+	// We do this inside the database transaction to ensure that we only mark an event as sent if we sent it.
+	// (n.b. this means that it's possible that the same event will be sent twice if the transaction fails but
+	//  the write to the output log succeeds)
+	// TODO: This assumes that writing the event to the output log is synchronous. It should be possible to
+	// send the event asynchronously but we would need to ensure that 1) the events are written to the log in
+	// the correct order, 2) that pending writes are resent across restarts. In order to avoid writing all the
+	// necessary bookkeeping we'll keep the event sending synchronous for now.
+	if len(updates) > 0 {
+		if err = u.api.OutputProducer.ProduceRoomEvents(u.event.RoomID().String(), updates); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("u.api.WriteOutputEvents: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		if err = u.updater.MarkEventAsSent(u.stateAtEvent.EventNID); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("u.updater.MarkEventAsSent: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	succeeded = true
 	return
 }
@@ -126,7 +146,7 @@ type latestEventsUpdater struct {
 	historyVisibility gomatrixserverlib.HistoryVisibility
 }
 
-func (u *latestEventsUpdater) doUpdateLatestEvents() error {
+func (u *latestEventsUpdater) doUpdateLatestEvents() ([]api.OutputEvent, error) {
 	u.lastEventIDSent = u.updater.LastEventIDSent()
 
 	// If we are doing a regular event update then we will get the
@@ -144,9 +164,9 @@ func (u *latestEventsUpdater) doUpdateLatestEvents() error {
 	// If the event has already been written to the output log then we
 	// don't need to do anything, as we've handled it already.
 	if hasBeenSent, err := u.updater.HasEventBeenSent(u.stateAtEvent.EventNID); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("u.updater.HasEventBeenSent: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("u.updater.HasEventBeenSent: %w", err)
 	} else if hasBeenSent {
-		return nil
+		return nil, nil
 	}
 
 	// Work out what the latest events are. This will include the new
@@ -159,7 +179,7 @@ func (u *latestEventsUpdater) doUpdateLatestEvents() error {
 		},
 	)
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("u.calculateLatest: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("u.calculateLatest: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Now that we know what the latest events are, it's time to get the
@@ -167,45 +187,29 @@ func (u *latestEventsUpdater) doUpdateLatestEvents() error {
 	var updates []api.OutputEvent
 	if extremitiesChanged || u.rewritesState {
 		if err = u.latestState(); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("u.latestState: %w", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("u.latestState: %w", err)
 		}
 
 		// If we need to generate any output events then here's where we do it.
 		// TODO: Move this!
 		if updates, err = u.api.updateMemberships(u.ctx, u.updater, u.removed, u.added); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("u.api.updateMemberships: %w", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("u.api.updateMemberships: %w", err)
 		}
 	} else {
 		u.newStateNID = u.oldStateNID
 	}
 
 	if err = u.updater.SetLatestEvents(u.roomInfo.RoomNID, u.latest, u.stateAtEvent.EventNID, u.newStateNID); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("u.updater.SetLatestEvents: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("u.updater.SetLatestEvents: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	update, err := u.makeOutputNewRoomEvent()
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("u.makeOutputNewRoomEvent: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("u.makeOutputNewRoomEvent: %w", err)
 	}
 	updates = append(updates, *update)
 
-	// Send the event to the output logs.
-	// We do this inside the database transaction to ensure that we only mark an event as sent if we sent it.
-	// (n.b. this means that it's possible that the same event will be sent twice if the transaction fails but
-	//  the write to the output log succeeds)
-	// TODO: This assumes that writing the event to the output log is synchronous. It should be possible to
-	// send the event asynchronously but we would need to ensure that 1) the events are written to the log in
-	// the correct order, 2) that pending writes are resent across restarts. In order to avoid writing all the
-	// necessary bookkeeping we'll keep the event sending synchronous for now.
-	if err = u.api.OutputProducer.ProduceRoomEvents(u.event.RoomID().String(), updates); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("u.api.WriteOutputEvents: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	if err = u.updater.MarkEventAsSent(u.stateAtEvent.EventNID); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("u.updater.MarkEventAsSent: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	return nil
+	return updates, nil
 }
 
 func (u *latestEventsUpdater) latestState() error {