diff --git a/changelogs/client_server/newsfragments/2077.clarification b/changelogs/client_server/newsfragments/2077.clarification
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2077d47f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/client_server/newsfragments/2077.clarification
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix the example of the `GET /sync` endpoint and the `m.room.member` example used in several places.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/api/client-server/sync.yaml b/data/api/client-server/sync.yaml
index 9d9a807d2..e6fd78837 100644
--- a/data/api/client-server/sync.yaml
+++ b/data/api/client-server/sync.yaml
@@ -441,17 +441,57 @@ paths:
                           "state": {
                             "events": [
                               {
-                                "$ref": "../../event-schemas/examples/m.room.member.yaml"
+                                "content": {
+                                  "avatar_url": "mxc://example.org/SFHyPlCeYUSFFxlgbQYZmoEoe",
+                                  "displayname": "Example user",
+                                  "membership": "join"
+                                },
+                                "event_id": "$143273976499sgjks:example.org",
+                                "origin_server_ts": 1432735824653,
+                                "sender": "@example:example.org",
+                                "state_key": "@example:example.org",
+                                "type": "m.room.member",
+                                "unsigned": {
+                                  "age": 45603,
+                                  "membership": "join"
+                                }
                               }
                             ]
                           },
                           "timeline": {
                             "events": [
                               {
-                                "$ref": "../../event-schemas/examples/m.room.member.yaml"
+                                "content": {
+                                  "avatar_url": "mxc://example.org/SEsfnsuifSDFSSEF",
+                                  "displayname": "Alice Margatroid",
+                                  "membership": "join",
+                                  "reason": "Looking for support"
+                                },
+                                "event_id": "$143273582443PhrSn:example.org",
+                                "origin_server_ts": 1432735824653,
+                                "sender": "@alice:example.org",
+                                "state_key": "@alice:example.org",
+                                "type": "m.room.member",
+                                "unsigned": {
+                                  "age": 1234,
+                                  "membership": "join"
+                                }
                               },
                               {
-                                "$ref": "../../event-schemas/examples/m.room.message$m.text.yaml"
+                                "content": {
+                                  "body": "This is an example text message",
+                                  "format": "org.matrix.custom.html",
+                                  "formatted_body": "<b>This is an example text message</b>",
+                                  "msgtype": "m.text"
+                                },
+                                "event_id": "$143273582443PhrSn:example.org",
+                                "origin_server_ts": 1432735824653,
+                                "sender": "@example:example.org",
+                                "type": "m.room.message",
+                                "unsigned": {
+                                  "age": 1234,
+                                  "membership": "join"
+                                }
                               }
                             ],
                             "limited": true,
diff --git a/data/event-schemas/examples/m.room.member.yaml b/data/event-schemas/examples/m.room.member.yaml
index 5147b258f..85e9a9eb8 100644
--- a/data/event-schemas/examples/m.room.member.yaml
+++ b/data/event-schemas/examples/m.room.member.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$ref": "core/state_event.json",
   "state_key": "@alice:example.org",
+  "sender": "@alice:example.org",
   "type": "m.room.member",
   "content": {
     "membership": "join",