diff --git a/synapse/app/homeserver.py b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
index c3066d6a0d..0a6a19033d 100755
--- a/synapse/app/homeserver.py
+++ b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
@@ -674,8 +674,8 @@ def run(hs):
         stats["uptime_seconds"] = uptime
         stats["total_users"] = yield hs.get_datastore().count_all_users()
 
-        all_rooms = yield hs.get_datastore().get_rooms(False)
-        stats["total_room_count"] = len(all_rooms)
+        room_count = yield hs.get_datastore().get_room_count()
+        stats["total_room_count"] = room_count
 
         stats["daily_active_users"] = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_users()
         daily_messages = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_messages()
diff --git a/synapse/storage/room.py b/synapse/storage/room.py
index dc09a3aaba..46ab38a313 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/room.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/room.py
@@ -87,90 +87,20 @@ class RoomStore(SQLBaseStore):
             desc="get_public_room_ids",
         )
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_rooms(self, is_public):
-        """Retrieve a list of all public rooms.
-
-        Args:
-            is_public (bool): True if the rooms returned should be public.
-        Returns:
-            A list of room dicts containing at least a "room_id" key, a
-            "topic" key if one is set, and a "name" key if one is set
+    def get_room_count(self):
+        """Retrieve a list of all rooms
         """
 
         def f(txn):
-            def subquery(table_name, column_name=None):
-                column_name = column_name or table_name
-                return (
-                    "SELECT %(table_name)s.event_id as event_id, "
-                    "%(table_name)s.room_id as room_id, %(column_name)s "
-                    "FROM %(table_name)s "
-                    "INNER JOIN current_state_events as c "
-                    "ON c.event_id = %(table_name)s.event_id " % {
-                        "column_name": column_name,
-                        "table_name": table_name,
-                    }
-                )
+            sql = "SELECT count(*)  FROM rooms"
+            txn.execute(sql)
+            row = txn.fetchone()
+            return row[0] or 0
 
-            sql = (
-                "SELECT"
-                "    r.room_id,"
-                "    max(n.name),"
-                "    max(t.topic),"
-                "    max(v.history_visibility),"
-                "    max(g.guest_access)"
-                " FROM rooms AS r"
-                " LEFT JOIN (%(topic)s) AS t ON t.room_id = r.room_id"
-                " LEFT JOIN (%(name)s) AS n ON n.room_id = r.room_id"
-                " LEFT JOIN (%(history_visibility)s) AS v ON v.room_id = r.room_id"
-                " LEFT JOIN (%(guest_access)s) AS g ON g.room_id = r.room_id"
-                " WHERE r.is_public = ?"
-                " GROUP BY r.room_id" % {
-                    "topic": subquery("topics", "topic"),
-                    "name": subquery("room_names", "name"),
-                    "history_visibility": subquery("history_visibility"),
-                    "guest_access": subquery("guest_access"),
-                }
-            )
-
-            txn.execute(sql, (is_public,))
-
-            rows = txn.fetchall()
-
-            for i, row in enumerate(rows):
-                room_id = row[0]
-                aliases = self._simple_select_onecol_txn(
-                    txn,
-                    table="room_aliases",
-                    keyvalues={
-                        "room_id": room_id
-                    },
-                    retcol="room_alias",
-                )
-
-                rows[i] = list(row) + [aliases]
-
-            return rows
-
-        rows = yield self.runInteraction(
+        return self.runInteraction(
             "get_rooms", f
         )
 
-        ret = [
-            {
-                "room_id": r[0],
-                "name": r[1],
-                "topic": r[2],
-                "world_readable": r[3] == "world_readable",
-                "guest_can_join": r[4] == "can_join",
-                "aliases": r[5],
-            }
-            for r in rows
-            if r[5]  # We only return rooms that have at least one alias.
-        ]
-
-        defer.returnValue(ret)
-
     def _store_room_topic_txn(self, txn, event):
         if hasattr(event, "content") and "topic" in event.content:
             self._simple_insert_txn(
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_room.py b/tests/storage/test_room.py
index 7fdbfc60f1..0baaf3df21 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_room.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_room.py
@@ -51,32 +51,6 @@ class RoomStoreTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             (yield self.store.get_room(self.room.to_string()))
         )
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def test_get_rooms(self):
-        # get_rooms does an INNER JOIN on the room_aliases table :(
-
-        rooms = yield self.store.get_rooms(is_public=True)
-        # Should be empty before we add the alias
-        self.assertEquals([], rooms)
-
-        yield self.store.create_room_alias_association(
-            room_alias=self.alias,
-            room_id=self.room.to_string(),
-            servers=["test"]
-        )
-
-        rooms = yield self.store.get_rooms(is_public=True)
-
-        self.assertEquals(1, len(rooms))
-        self.assertEquals({
-            "name": None,
-            "room_id": self.room.to_string(),
-            "topic": None,
-            "aliases": [self.alias.to_string()],
-            "world_readable": False,
-            "guest_can_join": False,
-        }, rooms[0])
-
 
 class RoomEventsStoreTestCase(unittest.TestCase):