diff --git a/synapse/federation/units.py b/synapse/federation/units.py
index dccac2aca..b2fb96418 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/units.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/units.py
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ class Pdu(JsonEncodedObject):
         """
         if pdu_tuple:
             d = copy.copy(pdu_tuple.pdu_entry._asdict())
+            d["origin_server_ts"] = d.pop("ts")
 
             d["content"] = json.loads(d["content_json"])
             del d["content_json"]
diff --git a/synapse/storage/__init__.py b/synapse/storage/__init__.py
index 6dadeb8cc..c8e0efb18 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/__init__.py
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ class DataStore(RoomMemberStore, RoomStore,
 
         cols["unrecognized_keys"] = json.dumps(unrec_keys)
 
+        cols["ts"] = cols.pop("origin_server_ts")
+
         logger.debug("Persisting: %s", repr(cols))
 
         if pdu.is_state:
diff --git a/synapse/storage/_base.py b/synapse/storage/_base.py
index 30c5103cd..65a86e905 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/_base.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/_base.py
@@ -354,6 +354,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         d.pop("stream_ordering", None)
         d.pop("topological_ordering", None)
         d.pop("processed", None)
+        d["origin_server_ts"] = d.pop("ts", 0)
 
         d.update(json.loads(row_dict["unrecognized_keys"]))
         d["content"] = json.loads(d["content"])
@@ -361,7 +362,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
 
         if "age_ts" not in d:
             # For compatibility
-            d["age_ts"] = d["origin_server_ts"] if "origin_server_ts" in d else 0
+            d["age_ts"] = d.get("origin_server_ts", 0)
 
         return self.event_factory.create_event(
             etype=d["type"],
diff --git a/synapse/storage/pdu.py b/synapse/storage/pdu.py
index 61ea979b8..d70467dcd 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/pdu.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/pdu.py
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ class PdusTable(Table):
         "origin",
         "context",
         "pdu_type",
-        "origin_server_ts",
+        "ts",
         "depth",
         "is_state",
         "content_json",
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/pdu.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/pdu.sql
index 5cc866991..16e111a56 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/pdu.sql
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/pdu.sql
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS pdus(
     origin TEXT, 
     context TEXT,
     pdu_type TEXT,
-    origin_server_ts INTEGER,
+    ts INTEGER,
     depth INTEGER DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
     is_state BOOL, 
     content_json TEXT,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/transactions.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/transactions.sql
index 5f8d01327..88e3e4e04 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/transactions.sql
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/transactions.sql
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS received_transactions(
     transaction_id TEXT, 
     origin TEXT, 
-    origin_server_ts INTEGER,
+    ts INTEGER,
     response_code INTEGER,
     response_json TEXT,
     has_been_referenced BOOL default 0, -- Whether thishas been referenced by a prev_tx
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS sent_transactions(
     destination TEXT,
     response_code INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
     response_json TEXT,
-    origin_server_ts INTEGER
+    ts INTEGER
 );
 
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS sent_transaction_dest ON sent_transactions(destination);
diff --git a/synapse/storage/transactions.py b/synapse/storage/transactions.py
index a9fa959d4..2ba8e30ef 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/transactions.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/transactions.py
@@ -87,7 +87,8 @@ class TransactionStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         txn.execute(query, (code, response_json, transaction_id, origin))
 
-    def prep_send_transaction(self, transaction_id, destination, origin_server_ts, pdu_list):
+    def prep_send_transaction(self, transaction_id, destination,
+                              origin_server_ts, pdu_list):
         """Persists an outgoing transaction and calculates the values for the
         previous transaction id list.
 
@@ -109,8 +110,8 @@ class TransactionStore(SQLBaseStore):
             transaction_id, destination, origin_server_ts, pdu_list
         )
 
-    def _prep_send_transaction(self, txn, transaction_id, destination, origin_server_ts,
-                               pdu_list):
+    def _prep_send_transaction(self, txn, transaction_id, destination,
+                               origin_server_ts, pdu_list):
 
         # First we find out what the prev_txs should be.
         # Since we know that we are only sending one transaction at a time,
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ class TransactionStore(SQLBaseStore):
             None,
             transaction_id=transaction_id,
             destination=destination,
-            origin_server_ts=origin_server_ts,
+            ts=origin_server_ts,
             response_code=0,
             response_json=None
         ))
@@ -251,7 +252,7 @@ class ReceivedTransactionsTable(Table):
     fields = [
         "transaction_id",
         "origin",
-        "origin_server_ts",
+        "ts",
         "response_code",
         "response_json",
         "has_been_referenced",
@@ -267,7 +268,7 @@ class SentTransactions(Table):
         "id",
         "transaction_id",
         "destination",
-        "origin_server_ts",
+        "ts",
         "response_code",
         "response_json",
     ]
diff --git a/tests/federation/test_federation.py b/tests/federation/test_federation.py
index 8b1202f6e..933aa61c7 100644
--- a/tests/federation/test_federation.py
+++ b/tests/federation/test_federation.py
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class FederationTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                     origin="red",
                     context="my-context",
                     pdu_type="m.topic",
-                    origin_server_ts=123456789000,
+                    ts=123456789000,
                     depth=1,
                     is_state=True,
                     content_json='{"topic":"The topic"}',
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class FederationTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                     origin="red",
                     context="my-context",
                     pdu_type="m.text",
-                    origin_server_ts=123456789001,
+                    ts=123456789001,
                     depth=1,
                     content_json='{"text":"Here is the message"}',
                 )