diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/39/federation_out_position.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/39/federation_out_position.sql
index edbd8e132..5af814290 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/39/federation_out_position.sql
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/39/federation_out_position.sql
@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@
  );
 
  INSERT INTO federation_stream_position (type, stream_id) VALUES ('federation', -1);
- INSERT INTO federation_stream_position (type, stream_id) VALUES ('events', -1);
+ INSERT INTO federation_stream_position (type, stream_id) SELECT 'events', coalesce(max(stream_ordering), -1) FROM events;