diff --git a/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js b/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js
--- a/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import { dbQuery, SQL } from '../database/database.js';
 import { processMessagesInDBForSearch } from '../database/search-utils.js';
 import { updateRolesAndPermissionsForAllThreads } from '../updaters/thread-permission-updaters.js';
+import { createPickledOlmAccount } from '../utils/olm-utils.js';
 
 const migrations: $ReadOnlyMap<number, () => Promise<void>> = new Map([
   [
@@ -385,6 +386,25 @@
       );
     },
   ],
+  [
+    34,
+    async () => {
+      const [pickledContentAccount, pickledNotificationsAccount] =
+        await Promise.all([
+          createPickledOlmAccount(),
+          createPickledOlmAccount(),
+        ]);
+
+      await dbQuery(
+        SQL`
+          INSERT INTO olm_accounts (is_content, pickling_key, pickled_olm_account)
+          VALUES
+            (TRUE, ${pickledContentAccount.picklingKey}, ${pickledContentAccount.pickledAccount}),
+            (FALSE, ${pickledNotificationsAccount.picklingKey}, ${pickledNotificationsAccount.pickledAccount});
+        `,
+      );
+    },
+  ],
 ]);
 const newDatabaseVersion: number = Math.max(...migrations.keys());
 
diff --git a/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js b/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js
--- a/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js
@@ -13,12 +13,14 @@
 import { updateDBVersion } from '../database/db-version.js';
 import { newDatabaseVersion } from '../database/migration-config.js';
 import { createScriptViewer } from '../session/scripts.js';
+import { createPickledOlmAccount } from '../utils/olm-utils.js';
 
 async function setupDB() {
   await createTables();
   await createUsers();
   await createThreads();
   await setUpMetadataTable();
+  await createOlmAccounts();
 }
 
 async function createTables() {
@@ -466,4 +468,18 @@
   await updateDBVersion(newDatabaseVersion);
 }
 
+async function createOlmAccounts() {
+  const [pickledContentAccount, pickledNotificationsAccount] =
+    await Promise.all([createPickledOlmAccount(), createPickledOlmAccount()]);
+
+  await dbQuery(
+    SQL`
+      INSERT INTO olm_accounts (is_content, pickling_key, pickled_olm_account)
+      VALUES
+        (TRUE, ${pickledContentAccount.picklingKey}, ${pickledContentAccount.pickledAccount}),
+        (FALSE, ${pickledNotificationsAccount.picklingKey}, ${pickledNotificationsAccount.pickledAccount});
+    `,
+  );
+}
+
 export { setupDB };
diff --git a/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js b/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js
--- a/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js
@@ -1,23 +1,42 @@
 // @flow
 
 import olm from '@commapp/olm';
-import type { Utility as OlmUtility } from '@commapp/olm';
-import invariant from 'invariant';
+import type {
+  Account as OlmAccount,
+  Utility as OlmUtility,
+} from '@commapp/olm';
+import uuid from 'uuid';
 
-import { getCommConfig } from 'lib/utils/comm-config.js';
-
-type OlmConfig = {
+type PickledOlmAccount = {
   +picklingKey: string,
   +pickledAccount: string,
 };
 
-async function getOlmConfig(): Promise<OlmConfig> {
-  const olmConfig = await getCommConfig({
-    folder: 'secrets',
-    name: 'olm_config',
-  });
-  invariant(olmConfig, 'OLM config missing');
-  return olmConfig;
+async function createPickledOlmAccount(): Promise<PickledOlmAccount> {
+  await olm.init();
+  const account = new olm.Account();
+  account.create();
+
+  const picklingKey = uuid.v4();
+  const pickledAccount = account.pickle(picklingKey);
+
+  return {
+    picklingKey: picklingKey,
+    pickledAccount: pickledAccount,
+  };
+}
+
+async function unpickleOlmAccount(
+  pickledOlmAccount: PickledOlmAccount,
+): Promise<OlmAccount> {
+  await olm.init();
+  const account = new olm.Account();
+
+  account.unpickle(
+    pickledOlmAccount.picklingKey,
+    pickledOlmAccount.pickledAccount,
+  );
+  return account;
 }
 
 let cachedOLMUtility: OlmUtility;
@@ -29,4 +48,4 @@
   return cachedOLMUtility;
 }
 
-export { getOlmConfig, getOlmUtility };
+export { createPickledOlmAccount, getOlmUtility, unpickleOlmAccount };