diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room.py b/synapse/handlers/room.py
index 3cce6f6150..2f9eb8ef4c 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ from synapse.api.constants import (
     JoinRules,
     RoomCreationPreset,
 )
-from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, Codes, StoreError, SynapseError
+from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, Codes, NotFoundError, StoreError, SynapseError
 from synapse.storage.state import StateFilter
 from synapse.types import RoomAlias, RoomID, RoomStreamToken, StreamToken, UserID
 from synapse.util import stringutils
@@ -97,9 +97,11 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         with (yield self._upgrade_linearizer.queue(old_room_id)):
             # start by allocating a new room id
-            is_public = False  # XXX fixme
+            r = yield self.store.get_room(old_room_id)
+            if r is None:
+                raise NotFoundError("Unknown room id %s" % (old_room_id,))
             new_room_id = yield self._generate_room_id(
-                creator_id=user_id, is_public=is_public,
+                creator_id=user_id, is_public=r["is_public"],
             )
 
             # we create and auth the tombstone event before properly creating the new
diff --git a/synapse/storage/room.py b/synapse/storage/room.py
index 61013b8919..41c65e112a 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/room.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/room.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class RoomWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         Args:
             room_id (str): The ID of the room to retrieve.
         Returns:
-            A namedtuple containing the room information, or an empty list.
+            A dict containing the room information, or None if the room is unknown.
         """
         return self._simple_select_one(
             table="rooms",