diff --git a/pkg/routing/localrouter.go b/pkg/routing/localrouter.go
index d936fbd04..1b6640583 100644
--- a/pkg/routing/localrouter.go
+++ b/pkg/routing/localrouter.go
@@ -139,10 +139,12 @@ func (r *LocalRouter) WriteRoomRTC(ctx context.Context, roomName livekit.RoomNam
 }
 
 func (r *LocalRouter) WriteNodeRTC(_ context.Context, _ string, msg *livekit.RTCNodeMessage) error {
+	r.lock.Lock()
 	if r.rtcMessageChan.IsClosed() {
 		// create a new one
 		r.rtcMessageChan = NewMessageChannel(localRTCChannelSize)
 	}
+	r.lock.Unlock()
 	return r.writeRTCMessage(r.rtcMessageChan, msg)
 }
 
@@ -206,13 +208,19 @@ func (r *LocalRouter) rtcMessageWorker() {
 		go r.rtcMessageWorker()
 	}()
 
-	if r.rtcMessageChan.IsClosed() {
+	r.lock.RLock()
+	isClosed := r.rtcMessageChan.IsClosed()
+	r.lock.RUnlock()
+	if isClosed {
 		// sleep and retry
 		time.Sleep(time.Second)
 	}
 
+	r.lock.RLock()
+	msgChan := r.rtcMessageChan.ReadChan()
+	r.lock.RUnlock()
 	// consume messages from
-	for msg := range r.rtcMessageChan.ReadChan() {
+	for msg := range msgChan {
 		if rtcMsg, ok := msg.(*livekit.RTCNodeMessage); ok {
 			room, identity, err := parseParticipantKey(livekit.ParticipantKey(rtcMsg.ParticipantKey))
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/service/roommanager.go b/pkg/service/roommanager.go
index de7e7b04d..f9ca84b7a 100644
--- a/pkg/service/roommanager.go
+++ b/pkg/service/roommanager.go
@@ -435,14 +435,24 @@ func (r *RoomManager) rtcSessionWorker(room *rtc.Room, participant types.LocalPa
 }
 
 // handles RTC messages resulted from Room API calls
-func (r *RoomManager) handleRTCMessage(_ context.Context, roomName livekit.RoomName, identity livekit.ParticipantIdentity, msg *livekit.RTCNodeMessage) {
+func (r *RoomManager) handleRTCMessage(ctx context.Context, roomName livekit.RoomName, identity livekit.ParticipantIdentity, msg *livekit.RTCNodeMessage) {
 	r.lock.RLock()
 	room := r.rooms[roomName]
 	r.lock.RUnlock()
 
 	if room == nil {
-		logger.Warnw("Could not find room", nil, "room", roomName)
-		return
+		if _, ok := msg.Message.(*livekit.RTCNodeMessage_DeleteRoom); ok {
+			// special case of a non-RTC room e.g. room created but no participants joined
+			logger.Debugw("Deleting non-rtc room, loading from roomstore")
+			err := r.roomStore.DeleteRoom(ctx, roomName)
+			if err != nil {
+				logger.Debugw("Error deleting non-rtc room", "err", err)
+			}
+			return
+		} else {
+			logger.Warnw("Could not find room", nil, "room", roomName)
+			return
+		}
 	}
 
 	participant := room.GetParticipant(identity)
diff --git a/test/multinode_test.go b/test/multinode_test.go
index 2c2ba2ef6..57a2ed57e 100644
--- a/test/multinode_test.go
+++ b/test/multinode_test.go
@@ -153,6 +153,18 @@ func TestMultiNodeJoinAfterClose(t *testing.T) {
 	scenarioJoinClosedRoom(t)
 }
 
+func TestMultiNodeCloseNonRTCRoom(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+		return
+	}
+
+	_, _, finish := setupMultiNodeTest("closeNonRTCRoom")
+	defer finish()
+
+	closeNonRTCRoom(t)
+}
+
 // ensure that token accurately reflects out of band updates
 func TestMultiNodeRefreshToken(t *testing.T) {
 	_, _, finish := setupMultiNodeTest("TestMultiNodeJoinAfterClose")
diff --git a/test/scenarios.go b/test/scenarios.go
index c15a980e2..d5c7878e0 100644
--- a/test/scenarios.go
+++ b/test/scenarios.go
@@ -166,6 +166,20 @@ func scenarioJoinClosedRoom(t *testing.T) {
 	stopClients(c2)
 }
 
+// close a room that has been created, but no participant has joined
+func closeNonRTCRoom(t *testing.T) {
+	createCtx := contextWithToken(createRoomToken())
+	_, err := roomClient.CreateRoom(createCtx, &livekit.CreateRoomRequest{
+		Name: testRoom,
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	_, err = roomClient.DeleteRoom(createCtx, &livekit.DeleteRoomRequest{
+		Room: testRoom,
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+}
+
 func publishTracksForClients(t *testing.T, clients ...*testclient.RTCClient) []*testclient.TrackWriter {
 	logger.Infow("publishing tracks for clients")
 	var writers []*testclient.TrackWriter
diff --git a/test/singlenode_test.go b/test/singlenode_test.go
index dea40dace..b0a8e9fb4 100644
--- a/test/singlenode_test.go
+++ b/test/singlenode_test.go
@@ -340,6 +340,18 @@ func TestSingleNodeJoinAfterClose(t *testing.T) {
 	scenarioJoinClosedRoom(t)
 }
 
+func TestSingleNodeCloseNonRTCRoom(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+		return
+	}
+
+	_, finish := setupSingleNodeTest("closeNonRTCRoom")
+	defer finish()
+
+	closeNonRTCRoom(t)
+}
+
 func TestAutoCreate(t *testing.T) {
 	if testing.Short() {
 		t.SkipNow()