diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index eca9c82f55..d13dcb717e 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+Synapse 1.3.0 (2019-08-15)
+==========================
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Fix 500 Internal Server Error on `publicRooms` when the public room list was
+  cached. ([\#5851](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5851))
+
+
 Synapse 1.3.0rc1 (2019-08-13)
 ==========================
 
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 25343593d5..5728882460 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -419,12 +419,11 @@ If Synapse is not configured with an SMTP server, password reset via email will
 
 ## Registering a user
 
-You will need at least one user on your server in order to use a Matrix
-client. Users can be registered either via a Matrix client, or via a
-commandline script.
+The easiest way to create a new user is to do so from a client like [Riot](https://riot.im).
 
-To get started, it is easiest to use the command line to register new
-users. This can be done as follows:
+Alternatively you can do so from the command line if you have installed via pip. 
+
+This can be done as follows:
 
 ```
 $ source ~/synapse/env/bin/activate
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 6634c1085a..83232a0bad 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-matrix-synapse-py3 (1.2.1) stable; urgency=medium
+matrix-synapse-py3 (1.3.0) stable; urgency=medium
 
-  * New synapse release 1.2.1.
-
- -- Synapse Packaging team <packages@matrix.org>  Fri, 26 Jul 2019 11:32:47 +0100
+  [ Andrew Morgan ]
+  * Remove libsqlite3-dev from required build dependencies.
 
 matrix-synapse-py3 (1.2.0) stable; urgency=medium
 
@@ -14,8 +13,9 @@ matrix-synapse-py3 (1.2.0) stable; urgency=medium
 
   [ Synapse Packaging team ]
   * New synapse release 1.2.0.
+  * New synapse release 1.3.0.
 
- -- Synapse Packaging team <packages@matrix.org>  Thu, 25 Jul 2019 14:10:07 +0100
+ -- Synapse Packaging team <packages@matrix.org>  Thu, 15 Aug 2019 12:04:23 +0100
 
 matrix-synapse-py3 (1.1.0) stable; urgency=medium
 
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index 9e679c9d42..bae14b41e4 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ Build-Depends:
  python3-setuptools,
  python3-pip,
  python3-venv,
- libsqlite3-dev,
  tar,
 Standards-Version: 3.9.8
 Homepage: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index d2316c7df9..02ae90b072 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -35,4 +35,4 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.3.0rc1"
+__version__ = "1.3.0"
diff --git a/synapse/federation/transport/server.py b/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
index ea4e1b6d0f..9a86bd0263 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import functools
 import logging
 import re
 
+from twisted.internet.defer import maybeDeferred
+
 import synapse
 import synapse.logging.opentracing as opentracing
 from synapse.api.errors import Codes, FederationDeniedError, SynapseError
@@ -745,8 +747,12 @@ class PublicRoomList(BaseFederationServlet):
         else:
             network_tuple = ThirdPartyInstanceID(None, None)
 
-        data = await self.handler.get_local_public_room_list(
-            limit, since_token, network_tuple=network_tuple, from_federation=True
+        data = await maybeDeferred(
+            self.handler.get_local_public_room_list,
+            limit,
+            since_token,
+            network_tuple=network_tuple,
+            from_federation=True,
         )
         return 200, data