diff --git a/srcpkgs/synapse/files/synapse/log/run b/srcpkgs/synapse/files/synapse/log/run
deleted file mode 120000
index 3a5b4a58605..00000000000
--- a/srcpkgs/synapse/files/synapse/log/run
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-/usr/bin/vlogger
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/srcpkgs/synapse/files/synapse/run b/srcpkgs/synapse/files/synapse/run
index 1ab3a5a8d54..0778d631732 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/synapse/files/synapse/run
+++ b/srcpkgs/synapse/files/synapse/run
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+[ -r ./conf ] && . ./conf
 cd /var/lib/synapse
-exec 2>&1
-exec chpst -u synapse:synapse synapse_homeserver -c /etc/synapse/homeserver.yaml
+exec chpst -u synapse:synapse synapse_homeserver -c ${CONFIG_FILE:-/etc/synapse/homeserver.yaml}
diff --git a/srcpkgs/synapse/patches/sample_config.patch b/srcpkgs/synapse/patches/sample_config.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 15954e0cd78..00000000000
--- a/srcpkgs/synapse/patches/sample_config.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,88 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/docs/sample_config.yaml b/docs/sample_config.yaml
-index 6696ed5d1..f17661fff 100644
---- a/docs/sample_config.yaml
-+++ b/docs/sample_config.yaml
-@@ -68,11 +68,11 @@ modules:
- # lowercase and may contain an explicit port.
- # Examples: matrix.org, localhost:8080
- #
--server_name: "SERVERNAME"
-+#server_name: "SERVERNAME"
- 
- # When running as a daemon, the file to store the pid in
- #
--pid_file: DATADIR/homeserver.pid
-+#pid_file: /var/lib/synapse/homeserver.pid
- 
- # The absolute URL to the web client which /_matrix/client will redirect
- # to if 'webclient' is configured under the 'listeners' configuration.
-@@ -370,8 +370,8 @@ manhole_settings:
-   # If these are left unset, then hardcoded and non-secret keys are used,
-   # which could allow traffic to be intercepted if sent over a public network.
-   #
--  #ssh_priv_key_path: CONFDIR/id_rsa
--  #ssh_pub_key_path: CONFDIR/id_rsa.pub
-+  #ssh_priv_key_path: /etc/synapse/id_rsa
-+  #ssh_pub_key_path: /etc/synapse/id_rsa.pub
- 
- # Forward extremities can build up in a room due to networking delays between
- # homeservers. Once this happens in a large room, calculation of the state of
-@@ -614,11 +614,11 @@ retention:
- # any intermediate certificates (for instance, if using certbot, use
- # `fullchain.pem` as your certificate, not `cert.pem`).
- #
--#tls_certificate_path: "CONFDIR/SERVERNAME.tls.crt"
-+#tls_certificate_path: "/etc/synapse/SERVERNAME.tls.crt"
- 
- # PEM-encoded private key for TLS
- #
--#tls_private_key_path: "CONFDIR/SERVERNAME.tls.key"
-+#tls_private_key_path: "/etc/synapse/SERVERNAME.tls.key"
- 
- # Whether to verify TLS server certificates for outbound federation requests.
- #
-@@ -808,7 +808,7 @@ caches:
- database:
-   name: sqlite3
-   args:
--    database: DATADIR/homeserver.db
-+    database: /var/lib/synapse/homeserver.db
- 
- 
- ## Logging ##
-@@ -816,7 +816,7 @@ database:
- # A yaml python logging config file as described by
- # https://docs.python.org/3.7/library/logging.config.html#configuration-dictionary-schema
- #
--log_config: "CONFDIR/SERVERNAME.log.config"
-+log_config: "/etc/synapse/log.yaml"
- 
- 
- ## Ratelimiting ##
-@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ log_config: "CONFDIR/SERVERNAME.log.config"
- 
- # Directory where uploaded images and attachments are stored.
- #
--media_store_path: "DATADIR/media_store"
-+media_store_path: "/var/lib/synapse/media_store"
- 
- # Media storage providers allow media to be stored in different
- # locations.
-@@ -1531,7 +1531,7 @@ room_prejoin_state:
- 
- # Path to the signing key to sign messages with
- #
--signing_key_path: "CONFDIR/SERVERNAME.signing.key"
-+signing_key_path: "/etc/synapse/SERVERNAME.signing.key"
- 
- # The keys that the server used to sign messages with but won't use
- # to sign new messages.
-@@ -1710,7 +1710,7 @@ saml2_config:
-   # Instead of putting the config inline as above, you can specify a
-   # separate pysaml2 configuration file:
-   #
--  #config_path: "CONFDIR/sp_conf.py"
-+  #config_path: "/etc/synapse/sp_conf.py"
- 
-   # The lifetime of a SAML session. This defines how long a user has to
-   # complete the authentication process, if allow_unsolicited is unset.
diff --git a/srcpkgs/synapse/patches/sample_log_config.patch b/srcpkgs/synapse/patches/sample_log_config.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index e4196a44645..00000000000
--- a/srcpkgs/synapse/patches/sample_log_config.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/docs/sample_log_config.yaml b/docs/sample_log_config.yaml
-index 2485ad25e..71465726b 100644
---- a/docs/sample_log_config.yaml
-+++ b/docs/sample_log_config.yaml
-@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ handlers:
-     file:
-         class: logging.handlers.TimedRotatingFileHandler
-         formatter: precise
--        filename: /var/log/matrix-synapse/homeserver.log
-+        filename: /var/log/synapse/homeserver.log
-         when: midnight
-         backupCount: 3  # Does not include the current log file.
-         encoding: utf8
diff --git a/srcpkgs/synapse/template b/srcpkgs/synapse/template
index abdb2e314e6..81c290f67e0 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/synapse/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/synapse/template
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 # Template file for 'synapse'
 pkgname=synapse
-version=1.49.2
+version=1.51.0
 revision=1
 build_style=python3-module
+make_check_target=tests
 hostmakedepends="python3-setuptools"
 depends="python3-jsonschema python3-frozendict python3-canonicaljson
  python3-signedjson python3-pynacl python3-service_identity python3-Twisted
@@ -11,27 +12,24 @@ depends="python3-jsonschema python3-frozendict python3-canonicaljson
  python3-phonenumbers python3-prometheus_client python3-attrs python3-netaddr
  python3-setuptools python3-bleach python3-Jinja2 python3-psycopg2 python3-lxml
  python3-saml2 python3-treq python3-macaroons python3-sortedcontainers
- python3-typing_extensions python3-ijson"
-checkdepends="$depends python3-parameterized python3-mock"
+ python3-typing_extensions python3-ijson python3-matrix-common"
+checkdepends="$depends python3-parameterized python3-pytest"
 short_desc="Matrix reference homeserver"
 maintainer="Joel Beckmeyer <joel@beckmeyer.us>"
 license="Apache-2.0"
 homepage="https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse"
 changelog="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/matrix-org/synapse/develop/CHANGES.md"
 distfiles="https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/archive/v${version}.tar.gz"
-checksum=f5b0017e9d77db94fac853fbefbcb4538d879cb80f404b02003930c76f5cafab
+checksum=acb587b9d4a92f15bc5f6e1f5b598ee1e1a7c3a298c923ff73ffd505de779353
 
 system_accounts="synapse"
 synapse_homedir="/var/lib/synapse"
 
 make_dirs="
 	/var/lib/synapse 0700 synapse synapse
+	/etc/synapse 755 synapse synapse
 	/var/log/synapse 0755 synapse synapse"
 
-do_check() {
-	PYTHONPATH="." trial3 ${makejobs} tests
-}
-
 post_install() {
 	vsv synapse