diff --git a/src/database/rooms.rs b/src/database/rooms.rs
index fc01e8ae..400ce386 100644
--- a/src/database/rooms.rs
+++ b/src/database/rooms.rs
@@ -249,7 +249,10 @@ impl Rooms {
 
     /// Checks if a room exists.
     pub fn exists(&self, room_id: &RoomId) -> Result<bool> {
-        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.to_be_bytes().to_vec();
+        let prefix = match self.get_shortroomid(room_id)? {
+            Some(b) => b.to_be_bytes().to_vec(),
+            None => return Ok(false),
+        };
 
         // Look for PDUs in that room.
         Ok(self
@@ -262,7 +265,7 @@ impl Rooms {
 
     /// Checks if a room exists.
     pub fn first_pdu_in_room(&self, room_id: &RoomId) -> Result<Option<Arc<PduEvent>>> {
-        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.to_be_bytes().to_vec();
+        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.expect("room exists").to_be_bytes().to_vec();
 
         // Look for PDUs in that room.
         self.pduid_pdu
@@ -627,12 +630,12 @@ impl Rooms {
         })
     }
 
-    pub fn get_shortroomid(&self, room_id: &RoomId) -> Result<u64> {
-        let bytes = self
+    pub fn get_shortroomid(&self, room_id: &RoomId) -> Result<Option<u64>> {
+        self
             .roomid_shortroomid
             .get(&room_id.as_bytes())?
-            .expect("every room has a shortroomid");
-        utils::u64_from_bytes(&bytes).map_err(|_| Error::bad_database("Invalid shortroomid in db."))
+            .map(|bytes|
+        utils::u64_from_bytes(&bytes).map_err(|_| Error::bad_database("Invalid shortroomid in db."))).transpose()
     }
 
     pub fn get_shortstatekey(
@@ -781,7 +784,7 @@ impl Rooms {
     }
 
     pub fn latest_pdu_count(&self, room_id: &RoomId) -> Result<u64> {
-        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.to_be_bytes().to_vec();
+        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.expect("room exists").to_be_bytes().to_vec();
 
         let mut last_possible_key = prefix.clone();
         last_possible_key.extend_from_slice(&u64::MAX.to_be_bytes());
@@ -1021,7 +1024,7 @@ impl Rooms {
         leaves: &[EventId],
         db: &Database,
     ) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
-        let shortroomid = self.get_shortroomid(&pdu.room_id)?;
+        let shortroomid = self.get_shortroomid(&pdu.room_id)?.expect("room exists");
 
         // Make unsigned fields correct. This is not properly documented in the spec, but state
         // events need to have previous content in the unsigned field, so clients can easily
@@ -1846,7 +1849,7 @@ impl Rooms {
         room_id: &RoomId,
         since: u64,
     ) -> Result<impl Iterator<Item = Result<(Vec<u8>, PduEvent)>> + 'a> {
-        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.to_be_bytes().to_vec();
+        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.expect("room exists").to_be_bytes().to_vec();
 
         // Skip the first pdu if it's exactly at since, because we sent that last time
         let mut first_pdu_id = prefix.clone();
@@ -1878,7 +1881,7 @@ impl Rooms {
         until: u64,
     ) -> Result<impl Iterator<Item = Result<(Vec<u8>, PduEvent)>> + 'a> {
         // Create the first part of the full pdu id
-        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.to_be_bytes().to_vec();
+        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.expect("room exists").to_be_bytes().to_vec();
 
         let mut current = prefix.clone();
         current.extend_from_slice(&(until.saturating_sub(1)).to_be_bytes()); // -1 because we don't want event at `until`
@@ -1911,7 +1914,7 @@ impl Rooms {
         from: u64,
     ) -> Result<impl Iterator<Item = Result<(Vec<u8>, PduEvent)>> + 'a> {
         // Create the first part of the full pdu id
-        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.to_be_bytes().to_vec();
+        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.expect("room exists").to_be_bytes().to_vec();
 
         let mut current = prefix.clone();
         current.extend_from_slice(&(from + 1).to_be_bytes()); // +1 so we don't send the base event
@@ -2462,7 +2465,7 @@ impl Rooms {
         room_id: &RoomId,
         search_string: &str,
     ) -> Result<(impl Iterator<Item = Vec<u8>> + 'a, Vec<String>)> {
-        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.to_be_bytes().to_vec();
+        let prefix = self.get_shortroomid(room_id)?.expect("room exists").to_be_bytes().to_vec();
         let prefix_clone = prefix.clone();
 
         let words = search_string