diff --git a/src/utils/EventUtils.ts b/src/utils/EventUtils.ts
index d8cf66e55736..69e322ac6dcc 100644
--- a/src/utils/EventUtils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/EventUtils.ts
@@ -238,8 +238,11 @@ export async function fetchInitialEvent(
     ) {
         const threadId = initialEvent.threadRootId;
         const room = client.getRoom(roomId);
+        const mapper = client.getEventMapper();
+        const rootEvent = room.findEventById(threadId)
+            ?? mapper(await client.fetchRoomEvent(roomId, threadId));
         try {
-            room.createThread(threadId, room.findEventById(threadId), [initialEvent], true);
+            room.createThread(threadId, rootEvent, [initialEvent], true);
         } catch (e) {
             logger.warn("Could not find root event: " + threadId);
         }