diff --git a/synapse/replication/tcp/handler.py b/synapse/replication/tcp/handler.py
index 452fe9ef70..842dd8d720 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/tcp/handler.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/tcp/handler.py
@@ -99,15 +99,21 @@ class ReplicationCommandHandler:
         #      missing RDATA.
         with await self._position_linearizer.queue(cmd.stream_name):
             if stream_name not in self._streams_connected:
+                # If the stream isn't marked as connected then we haven't seen a
+                # `POSITION` command yet, and so we may have missed some rows.
+                # Let's drop the row for now, on the assumption we'll receive a
+                # `POSITION` soon and we'll catch up correctly then.
                 logger.warning(
-                    "Discarding RDATA for unconnected stream %s", stream_name
+                    "Discarding RDATA for unconnected stream %s -> ",
+                    stream_name,
+                    cmd.token,
                 )
                 return
 
             if cmd.token is None:
-                # I.e. either this is part of a batch of updates for this stream (in
+                # I.e. this is part of a batch of updates for this stream (in
                 # which case batch until we get an update for the stream with a non
-                # None token) or we're currently connecting so we queue up rows.
+                # None token).
                 self._pending_batches.setdefault(stream_name, []).append(row)
             else:
                 # Check if this is the last of a batch of updates