diff --git a/lib/sync.js b/lib/sync.js
index e944145cb..1ba77e6cc 100644
--- a/lib/sync.js
+++ b/lib/sync.js
@@ -216,10 +216,6 @@ SyncApi.prototype.peek = function(roomId) {
             response.messages.chunk, client.getEventMapper()
         );
 
-        if (response.messages.start) {
-            peekRoom.oldState.paginationToken = response.messages.start;
-        }
-
         // set the state of the room to as it was after the timeline executes
         peekRoom.oldState.setStateEvents(oldStateEvents);
         peekRoom.currentState.setStateEvents(stateEvents);
@@ -230,6 +226,12 @@ SyncApi.prototype.peek = function(roomId) {
         // roll backwards to diverge old state:
         peekRoom.addEventsToTimeline(messages.reverse(), true);
 
+        // set the pagination token. Make sure this happens after adding
+        // events to the timeline, otherwise it will get reset.
+        if (response.messages.start) {
+            peekRoom.oldState.paginationToken = response.messages.start;
+        }
+
         client.store.storeRoom(peekRoom);
         client.emit("Room", peekRoom);