diff --git a/synapse/handlers/federation.py b/synapse/handlers/federation.py
index 654fd3829f..cb56733b92 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/federation.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/federation.py
@@ -1090,7 +1090,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
-    def _handle_new_event(self, origin, event, state=None, auth_events=None):
+    def _handle_new_event(self, origin, event, state=None, auth_events=None,
+                          backfilled=False):
         context = yield self._prep_event(
             origin, event,
             state=state,
@@ -1106,6 +1107,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         event_stream_id, max_stream_id = yield self.store.persist_event(
             event,
             context=context,
+            backfilled=backfilled,
         )
 
         # this intentionally does not yield: we don't care about the result
diff --git a/synapse/storage/events.py b/synapse/storage/events.py
index f847c161af..21487724ed 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/events.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/events.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ class EventsStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
-    def persist_event(self, event, context, current_state=None):
+    def persist_event(self, event, context, current_state=None, backfilled=False):
 
         try:
             with self._stream_id_gen.get_next() as stream_ordering:
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ class EventsStore(SQLBaseStore):
                         event=event,
                         context=context,
                         current_state=current_state,
+                        backfilled=backfilled,
                     )
         except _RollbackButIsFineException:
             pass
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ class EventsStore(SQLBaseStore):
         defer.returnValue({e.event_id: e for e in events})
 
     @log_function
-    def _persist_event_txn(self, txn, event, context, current_state):
+    def _persist_event_txn(self, txn, event, context, current_state, backfilled=False):
         # We purposefully do this first since if we include a `current_state`
         # key, we *want* to update the `current_state_events` table
         if current_state:
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ class EventsStore(SQLBaseStore):
         return self._persist_events_txn(
             txn,
             [(event, context)],
-            backfilled=False,
+            backfilled=backfilled,
         )
 
     @log_function