diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room_member.py b/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
index aade0f711b..a6dbff637f 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
@@ -294,6 +294,9 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
             outlier: Indicates whether the event is an `outlier`, i.e. if
                 it's from an arbitrary point and floating in the DAG as
                 opposed to being inline with the current DAG.
+            historical: Indicates whether the message is being inserted
+                back in time around some existing events. This is used to skip
+                a few checks and mark the event as backfilled.
 
         Returns:
             Tuple of event ID and stream ordering position
@@ -457,6 +460,9 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
             outlier: Indicates whether the event is an `outlier`, i.e. if
                 it's from an arbitrary point and floating in the DAG as
                 opposed to being inline with the current DAG.
+            historical: Indicates whether the message is being inserted
+                back in time around some existing events. This is used to skip
+                a few checks and mark the event as backfilled.
             prev_event_ids: The event IDs to use as the prev events
             auth_event_ids:
                 The event ids to use as the auth_events for the new event.
@@ -535,6 +541,9 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
             outlier: Indicates whether the event is an `outlier`, i.e. if
                 it's from an arbitrary point and floating in the DAG as
                 opposed to being inline with the current DAG.
+            historical: Indicates whether the message is being inserted
+                back in time around some existing events. This is used to skip
+                a few checks and mark the event as backfilled.
             prev_event_ids: The event IDs to use as the prev events
             auth_event_ids:
                 The event ids to use as the auth_events for the new event.