diff --git a/changelog.d/8254.feature b/changelog.d/8254.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..feb02be234
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/8254.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add unread messages count to sync responses, as specified in [MSC2654](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2654).
diff --git a/synapse/push/push_tools.py b/synapse/push/push_tools.py
index f7a25571f3..d0145666bf 100644
--- a/synapse/push/push_tools.py
+++ b/synapse/push/push_tools.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ async def get_badge_count(store, user_id):
             )
             # return one badge count per conversation, as count per
             # message is so noisy as to be almost useless
-            badge += 1 if notifs["unread_count"] else 0
+            badge += 1 if notifs["notify_count"] else 0
     return badge
 
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/schema/delta/58/15unread_count.sql b/synapse/storage/databases/main/schema/delta/58/15unread_count.sql
index b451e8663a..317fba8a5d 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/schema/delta/58/15unread_count.sql
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/schema/delta/58/15unread_count.sql
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
 
 -- Add columns to event_push_actions and event_push_actions_staging to track unread
 -- messages and calculate unread counts.
-ALTER TABLE event_push_actions_staging ADD COLUMN unread SMALLINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;
-ALTER TABLE event_push_actions ADD COLUMN unread SMALLINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;
+ALTER TABLE event_push_actions_staging ADD COLUMN unread SMALLINT;
+ALTER TABLE event_push_actions ADD COLUMN unread SMALLINT;
 
 -- Add column to event_push_summary
-ALTER TABLE event_push_summary ADD COLUMN unread_count BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;
\ No newline at end of file
+ALTER TABLE event_push_summary ADD COLUMN unread_count BIGINT;
\ No newline at end of file