diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/sliding_sync.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/sliding_sync.py
index 25bf300e459..5cca44b7c31 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/sliding_sync.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/sliding_sync.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 from synapse.logging.opentracing import log_kv
 from synapse.storage._base import SQLBaseStore, db_to_json
 from synapse.storage.database import LoggingTransaction
+from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine
 from synapse.types import MultiWriterStreamToken, RoomStreamToken
 from synapse.types.handlers.sliding_sync import (
     HaveSentRoom,
@@ -458,27 +459,58 @@ async def get_visibility_for_events(
         def get_visibility_for_events_txn(
             txn: LoggingTransaction,
         ) -> Mapping[str, Optional[str]]:
-            sql = """
-                SELECT visibility FROM history_visibility_ranges
-                WHERE start_range <= ? AND (? < end_range OR end_range IS NULL)
-                    AND room_id = ?
-            """
+            if isinstance(txn.database_engine, PostgresEngine):
+                sql = """
+                    SELECT start_range, end_range, visibility FROM history_visibility_ranges
+                    WHERE int8range(start_range, end_range, '[)') @> ANY(?::bigint[])
+                        AND room_id = ?
+                """
+                stream_orderings = [
+                    event.internal_metadata.stream_ordering for event in events
+                ]
+                txn.execute(sql, (stream_orderings, room_id))
+
+                ranges = [
+                    ((start_range, end_range), visibility)
+                    for start_range, end_range, visibility in txn
+                ]
+
+                results: Dict[str, Optional[str]] = {}
+                for event in events:
+                    stream_ordering = event.internal_metadata.stream_ordering
+                    for (start_range, end_range), visibility in ranges:
+                        if stream_ordering < start_range:
+                            continue
+                        if end_range is not None and end_range <= stream_ordering:
+                            continue
+
+                        results[event.event_id] = visibility
+                        break
+
+                return results
 
-            results = {}
-            for event in events:
-                txn.execute(
-                    sql,
-                    (
-                        event.internal_metadata.stream_ordering,
-                        event.internal_metadata.stream_ordering,
-                        room_id,
-                    ),
-                )
-                row = txn.fetchone()
-                if row is not None:
-                    results[event.event_id] = row[0]
-
-            return results
+            else:
+                sql = """
+                    SELECT visibility FROM history_visibility_ranges
+                    WHERE start_range <= ? AND (? < end_range OR end_range IS NULL)
+                        AND room_id = ?
+                """
+
+                results = {}
+                for event in events:
+                    txn.execute(
+                        sql,
+                        (
+                            event.internal_metadata.stream_ordering,
+                            event.internal_metadata.stream_ordering,
+                            room_id,
+                        ),
+                    )
+                    row = txn.fetchone()
+                    if row is not None:
+                        results[event.event_id] = row[0]
+
+                return results
 
         return await self.db_pool.runInteraction(
             "get_visibility_for_events", get_visibility_for_events_txn