diff --git a/src/database/key_value/globals.rs b/src/database/key_value/globals.rs
index 819ef98c..7934535f 100644
--- a/src/database/key_value/globals.rs
+++ b/src/database/key_value/globals.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use lru_cache::LruCache;
 use ruma::{
     api::federation::discovery::{OldVerifyKey, ServerSigningKeys},
     signatures::Ed25519KeyPair,
-    DeviceId, ServerName, UserId,
+    DeviceId, OwnedServerName, ServerName, UserId,
 };
 
 use crate::{
@@ -361,4 +361,28 @@ lasttimelinecount_cache: {lasttimelinecount_cache}\n"
         self.global.insert(b"version", &new_version.to_be_bytes())?;
         Ok(())
     }
+
+    fn set_server_name(&self, server_name: &ServerName) -> Result<()> {
+        self.global.insert(b"server_name", server_name.as_bytes())
+    }
+
+    fn server_name(&self) -> Result<Option<OwnedServerName>> {
+        let opt_bytes = self
+            .global
+            .get(b"server_name")
+            .map_err(|_| Error::bad_database("Failed to read from globals"))?;
+
+        // `server_name` has not been set yet
+        let Some(bytes) = opt_bytes else {
+            return Ok(None);
+        };
+
+        let utf8 = String::from_utf8(bytes)
+            .map_err(|_| Error::bad_database("Invalid UTF-8 in server_name"))?;
+
+        let server_name = OwnedServerName::try_from(utf8)
+            .map_err(|_| Error::bad_database("Invalid server_name"))?;
+
+        Ok(Some(server_name))
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 72bcd337..69d6b38f 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -75,6 +75,9 @@ pub(crate) enum ServeCommand {
 #[allow(missing_docs)]
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 pub(crate) enum ServerNameChanged {
+    #[error("failed to read saved server_name")]
+    ReadSavedServerName(#[source] crate::utils::error::Error),
+
     #[error("failed to check if there are any users")]
     NonZeroUsers(#[source] crate::utils::error::Error),
 
@@ -83,6 +86,9 @@ pub(crate) enum ServerNameChanged {
 
     #[error("`server_name` in the database and config file differ")]
     Renamed,
+
+    #[error("failed to save the configured server_name")]
+    SaveServerName(#[source] crate::utils::error::Error),
 }
 
 /// Observability initialization errors
diff --git a/src/service/globals.rs b/src/service/globals.rs
index 1189bb13..0de48be0 100644
--- a/src/service/globals.rs
+++ b/src/service/globals.rs
@@ -307,6 +307,10 @@ impl Service {
 
     /// Check if `server_name` in the DB and config differ, return error if so
     ///
+    /// This function will save the currently configured `server_name` if the
+    /// check passes, so that future calls to this function will continue to
+    /// check against the first-configured value.
+    ///
     /// Matrix resource ownership is based on the server name; changing it
     /// requires recreating the database from scratch. This check needs to be
     /// done before background tasks are started to avoid data races.
@@ -317,6 +321,20 @@ impl Service {
     ) -> Result<(), crate::error::ServerNameChanged> {
         use crate::error::ServerNameChanged as Error;
 
+        let config = &*services().globals.config.server_name;
+
+        let opt_saved =
+            self.saved_server_name().map_err(Error::ReadSavedServerName)?;
+
+        // Check against saved server name
+        if let Some(saved) = opt_saved {
+            if saved == config {
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+
+            return Err(Error::Renamed);
+        }
+
         let non_zero_users = services()
             .users
             .count()
@@ -328,10 +346,18 @@ impl Service {
             .exists(&self.admin_bot_user_id)
             .map_err(Error::AdminBotExists)?;
 
+        // Fall back to checking against the admin bot user ID
         if non_zero_users && !admin_bot_exists {
             return Err(Error::Renamed);
         }
 
+        // If the server_name wasn't saved and the admin bot user ID check
+        // didn't fail, save the current server_name
+        services()
+            .globals
+            .save_server_name(config)
+            .map_err(Error::SaveServerName)?;
+
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -618,6 +644,18 @@ impl Service {
         self.shutdown.store(true, atomic::Ordering::Relaxed);
         self.rotate.fire();
     }
+
+    pub(crate) fn save_server_name(
+        &self,
+        server_name: &ServerName,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        self.db.set_server_name(server_name)
+    }
+
+    // Named this way to avoid conflicts with the existing `fn server_name`
+    pub(crate) fn saved_server_name(&self) -> Result<Option<OwnedServerName>> {
+        self.db.server_name()
+    }
 }
 
 fn reqwest_client_builder(config: &Config) -> Result<reqwest::ClientBuilder> {
diff --git a/src/service/globals/data.rs b/src/service/globals/data.rs
index 28e7e512..a232f81c 100644
--- a/src/service/globals/data.rs
+++ b/src/service/globals/data.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use ruma::{
     api::federation::discovery::{OldVerifyKey, ServerSigningKeys, VerifyKey},
     serde::Base64,
     signatures::Ed25519KeyPair,
-    DeviceId, MilliSecondsSinceUnixEpoch, ServerName, UserId,
+    DeviceId, MilliSecondsSinceUnixEpoch, OwnedServerName, ServerName, UserId,
 };
 use serde::Deserialize;
 
@@ -119,4 +119,6 @@ pub(crate) trait Data: Send + Sync {
     ) -> Result<Option<SigningKeys>>;
     fn database_version(&self) -> Result<u64>;
     fn bump_database_version(&self, new_version: u64) -> Result<()>;
+    fn set_server_name(&self, server_name: &ServerName) -> Result<()>;
+    fn server_name(&self) -> Result<Option<OwnedServerName>>;
 }