diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index ae51d6ab39..2691dfc23d 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -393,4 +393,4 @@ something like the following in their logs::
     2019-09-11 19:32:04,271 - synapse.federation.transport.server - 288 - WARNING - GET-11752 - authenticate_request failed: 401: Invalid signature for server <server> with key ed25519:a_EqML: Unable to verify signature for <server>
 
 This is normally caused by a misconfiguration in your reverse-proxy. See
-`<docs/reverse_proxy.rst>`_ and double-check that your settings are correct.
+`<docs/reverse_proxy.md>`_ and double-check that your settings are correct.
diff --git a/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite.py b/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite.py
index cbc74cd302..df039a072d 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/engines/sqlite.py
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 import struct
 import threading
 
-from synapse.storage.prepare_database import prepare_database
-
 
 class Sqlite3Engine(object):
     single_threaded = True
@@ -62,6 +60,10 @@ class Sqlite3Engine(object):
         return sql
 
     def on_new_connection(self, db_conn):
+
+        # We need to import here to avoid an import loop.
+        from synapse.storage.prepare_database import prepare_database
+
         if self._is_in_memory:
             # In memory databases need to be rebuilt each time. Ideally we'd
             # reuse the same connection as we do when starting up, but that