diff --git a/server/api/repo_character.go b/server/api/repo_character.go
index 6bddc5815..1c5a5e97d 100644
--- a/server/api/repo_character.go
+++ b/server/api/repo_character.go
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ func (r *APICharacterRepository) Create(ctx context.Context, userID uint32, last
 		RETURNING id, name, is_female, weapon_type, hr, gr, last_login`,
 		userID, lastLogin,
 	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return character, err
+	}
+	_, err = r.db.ExecContext(ctx, `INSERT INTO user_binary (id) VALUES ($1)`, character.ID)
 	return character, err
 }
 
diff --git a/server/migrations/sql/0006_backfill_user_binary.sql b/server/migrations/sql/0006_backfill_user_binary.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..97c9f2c54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/migrations/sql/0006_backfill_user_binary.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+-- Backfill user_binary rows for characters that were created without one.
+-- This fixes #176: new characters could not enter their house.
+INSERT INTO user_binary (id)
+SELECT c.id FROM characters c
+LEFT JOIN user_binary ub ON ub.id = c.id
+WHERE ub.id IS NULL;
diff --git a/server/signserver/repo_character.go b/server/signserver/repo_character.go
index 46ca13f07..77f5b1c42 100644
--- a/server/signserver/repo_character.go
+++ b/server/signserver/repo_character.go
@@ -24,13 +24,19 @@ func (r *SignCharacterRepository) CountNewCharacters(uid uint32) (int, error) {
 }
 
 func (r *SignCharacterRepository) CreateCharacter(uid uint32, lastLogin uint32) error {
-	_, err := r.db.Exec(`
+	var charID int
+	err := r.db.QueryRow(`
 		INSERT INTO characters (
 			user_id, is_female, is_new_character, name, unk_desc_string,
 			hr, gr, weapon_type, last_login)
-		VALUES($1, False, True, '', '', 0, 0, 0, $2)`,
+		VALUES($1, False, True, '', '', 0, 0, 0, $2)
+		RETURNING id`,
 		uid, lastLogin,
-	)
+	).Scan(&charID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	_, err = r.db.Exec(`INSERT INTO user_binary (id) VALUES ($1)`, charID)
 	return err
 }