diff --git a/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py b/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py
index 7bb5de1fe7..338b495611 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def create_engine(database_config):
 
     if engine_class:
         module = importlib.import_module(name)
-        return engine_class(module)
+        return engine_class(module, database_config)
 
     raise RuntimeError(
         "Unsupported database engine '%s'" % (name,)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/engines/postgres.py b/synapse/storage/engines/postgres.py
index c2290943b4..a6ae79dfad 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/engines/postgres.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/engines/postgres.py
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ from ._base import IncorrectDatabaseSetup
 class PostgresEngine(object):
     single_threaded = False
 
-    def __init__(self, database_module):
+    def __init__(self, database_module, database_config):
         self.module = database_module
         self.module.extensions.register_type(self.module.extensions.UNICODE)
+        self.synchronous_commit = database_config.get("synchronous_commit", True)
 
     def check_database(self, txn):
         txn.execute("SHOW SERVER_ENCODING")
@@ -40,9 +41,19 @@ class PostgresEngine(object):
         db_conn.set_isolation_level(
             self.module.extensions.ISOLATION_LEVEL_REPEATABLE_READ
         )
+        # Asynchronous commit, don't wait for the server to call fsync before
+        # ending the transaction.
+        # https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/wal-async-commit.html
+        if not self.synchronous_commit:
+            cursor = db_conn.cursor()
+            cursor.execute("SET synchronous_commit TO OFF")
+            cursor.close()
 
     def is_deadlock(self, error):
         if isinstance(error, self.module.DatabaseError):
+            # https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/errcodes-appendix.html
+            # "40001" serialization_failure
+            # "40P01" deadlock_detected
             return error.pgcode in ["40001", "40P01"]
         return False
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite3.py b/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite3.py
index 14203aa500..755c9a1f07 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite3.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite3.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import struct
 class Sqlite3Engine(object):
     single_threaded = True
 
-    def __init__(self, database_module):
+    def __init__(self, database_module, database_config):
         self.module = database_module
 
     def check_database(self, txn):