diff --git a/changelog.d/16299.misc b/changelog.d/16299.misc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d4546691518d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/16299.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Refactor `receipts_graph` Postgres transactions to stop error messages.
diff --git a/synapse/storage/database.py b/synapse/storage/database.py
index 6c5fcdcec37d..697bc5651c91 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/database.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/database.py
@@ -1193,6 +1193,7 @@ async def simple_upsert(
         keyvalues: Dict[str, Any],
         values: Dict[str, Any],
         insertion_values: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
+        where_clause: Optional[str] = None,
         desc: str = "simple_upsert",
     ) -> bool:
         """Insert a row with values + insertion_values; on conflict, update with values.
@@ -1243,6 +1244,7 @@ async def simple_upsert(
             keyvalues: The unique key columns and their new values
             values: The nonunique columns and their new values
             insertion_values: additional key/values to use only when inserting
+            where_clause: An index predicate to apply to the upsert.
             desc: description of the transaction, for logging and metrics
         Returns:
             Returns True if a row was inserted or updated (i.e. if `values` is
@@ -1263,6 +1265,7 @@ async def simple_upsert(
                     keyvalues,
                     values,
                     insertion_values,
+                    where_clause,
                     db_autocommit=autocommit,
                 )
             except self.engine.module.IntegrityError as e:
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/receipts.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/receipts.py
index e4d10ff250d1..a074c439895e 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/receipts.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/receipts.py
@@ -795,9 +795,7 @@ async def insert_receipt(
             now - event_ts,
         )
 
-        await self.db_pool.runInteraction(
-            "insert_graph_receipt",
-            self._insert_graph_receipt_txn,
+        await self._insert_graph_receipt(
             room_id,
             receipt_type,
             user_id,
@@ -810,9 +808,8 @@ async def insert_receipt(
 
         return stream_id, max_persisted_id
 
-    def _insert_graph_receipt_txn(
+    async def _insert_graph_receipt(
         self,
-        txn: LoggingTransaction,
         room_id: str,
         receipt_type: str,
         user_id: str,
@@ -822,13 +819,6 @@ def _insert_graph_receipt_txn(
     ) -> None:
         assert self._can_write_to_receipts
 
-        txn.call_after(
-            self._get_receipts_for_user_with_orderings.invalidate,
-            (user_id, receipt_type),
-        )
-        # FIXME: This shouldn't invalidate the whole cache
-        txn.call_after(self._get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate, (room_id,))
-
         keyvalues = {
             "room_id": room_id,
             "receipt_type": receipt_type,
@@ -840,8 +830,8 @@ def _insert_graph_receipt_txn(
         else:
             keyvalues["thread_id"] = thread_id
 
-        self.db_pool.simple_upsert_txn(
-            txn,
+        await self.db_pool.simple_upsert(
+            desc="insert_graph_receipt",
             table="receipts_graph",
             keyvalues=keyvalues,
             values={
@@ -851,6 +841,11 @@ def _insert_graph_receipt_txn(
             where_clause=where_clause,
         )
 
+        self._get_receipts_for_user_with_orderings.invalidate((user_id, receipt_type))
+
+        # FIXME: This shouldn't invalidate the whole cache
+        self._get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate((room_id,))
+
 
 class ReceiptsBackgroundUpdateStore(SQLBaseStore):
     POPULATE_RECEIPT_EVENT_STREAM_ORDERING = "populate_event_stream_ordering"