diff --git a/lib/client.js b/lib/client.js
index 9151c0f90..004a79d05 100644
--- a/lib/client.js
+++ b/lib/client.js
@@ -1942,6 +1942,16 @@ function doInitialSync(client, historyLen, includeArchived) {
                     room.addReceipt(receipts[j]);
                 }
 
+                var privateUserData = data.rooms[i].private_user_data || [];
+                for (j = 0; j < privateUserData.length; j++) {
+                    var event = _PojoToMatrixEventMapper(client)(privateUserData[j]);
+                    if (event.type === "m.tag") {
+                        room.addTags(event);
+                    }
+                    // XXX: unhandled private user data event - we should probably
+                    // put it somewhere useful once the API has settled
+                }
+
                 // cache the name/summary/etc prior to storage since we don't
                 // know how the store will serialise the Room.
                 room.recalculate(client.credentials.userId);