1 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/relations.py b/synapse/rest/client/relations.py
index 9dd59196d9..7456d6f507 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/relations.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/relations.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import logging
 import re
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Optional, Tuple
 
+from synapse.api.constants import Direction
 from synapse.handlers.relations import ThreadsListInclude
 from synapse.http.server import HttpServer
 from synapse.http.servlet import RestServlet, parse_integer, parse_string
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ class RelationPaginationServlet(RestServlet):
         requester = await self.auth.get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=True)
 
         pagination_config = await PaginationConfig.from_request(
-            self._store, request, default_limit=5, default_dir="b"
+            self._store, request, default_limit=5, default_dir=Direction.BACKWARDS
         )
 
         # The unstable version of this API returns an extra field for client