diff --git a/synapse/storage/database.py b/synapse/storage/database.py
index 81f661160ce2..4870678f5027 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/database.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/database.py
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
     Tuple,
     Type,
     TypeVar,
-    Union,
     cast,
     overload,
 )
@@ -1044,43 +1043,20 @@ def cursor_to_dict(cursor: Cursor) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
         results = [dict(zip(col_headers, row)) for row in cursor]
         return results
 
-    @overload
-    async def execute(
-        self, desc: str, decoder: Literal[None], query: str, *args: Any
-    ) -> List[Tuple[Any, ...]]:
-        ...
-
-    @overload
-    async def execute(
-        self, desc: str, decoder: Callable[[Cursor], R], query: str, *args: Any
-    ) -> R:
-        ...
-
-    async def execute(
-        self,
-        desc: str,
-        decoder: Optional[Callable[[Cursor], R]],
-        query: str,
-        *args: Any,
-    ) -> Union[List[Tuple[Any, ...]], R]:
+    async def execute(self, desc: str, query: str, *args: Any) -> List[Tuple[Any, ...]]:
         """Runs a single query for a result set.
 
         Args:
             desc: description of the transaction, for logging and metrics
-            decoder - The function which can resolve the cursor results to
-                something meaningful.
             query - The query string to execute
             *args - Query args.
         Returns:
             The result of decoder(results)
         """
 
-        def interaction(txn: LoggingTransaction) -> Union[List[Tuple[Any, ...]], R]:
+        def interaction(txn: LoggingTransaction) -> List[Tuple[Any, ...]]:
             txn.execute(query, args)
-            if decoder:
-                return decoder(txn)
-            else:
-                return txn.fetchall()
+            return txn.fetchall()
 
         return await self.runInteraction(desc, interaction)
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/censor_events.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/censor_events.py
index 58177ecec132..711fdddd4e96 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/censor_events.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/censor_events.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ async def _censor_redactions(self) -> None:
         """
 
         rows = await self.db_pool.execute(
-            "_censor_redactions_fetch", None, sql, before_ts, 100
+            "_censor_redactions_fetch", sql, before_ts, 100
         )
 
         updates = []
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/devices.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/devices.py
index fc23d18eba53..328cd266c981 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/devices.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/devices.py
@@ -882,7 +882,6 @@ async def get_all_devices_changed(
 
         rows = await self.db_pool.execute(
             "get_all_devices_changed",
-            None,
             sql,
             from_key,
             to_key,
@@ -966,7 +965,7 @@ async def get_users_whose_signatures_changed(
                 WHERE from_user_id = ? AND stream_id > ?
             """
             rows = await self.db_pool.execute(
-                "get_users_whose_signatures_changed", None, sql, user_id, from_key
+                "get_users_whose_signatures_changed", sql, user_id, from_key
             )
             return {user for row in rows for user in db_to_json(row[0])}
         else:
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/end_to_end_keys.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/end_to_end_keys.py
index f13d776b0d1a..f70f95eebaa5 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/end_to_end_keys.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/end_to_end_keys.py
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@ async def get_e2e_device_keys_for_federation_query(
             """
             rows = await self.db_pool.execute(
                 "get_e2e_device_keys_for_federation_query_check",
-                None,
                 sql,
                 now_stream_id,
                 user_id,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/events_bg_updates.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/events_bg_updates.py
index c5fce1c82b12..00618051507e 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/events_bg_updates.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/events_bg_updates.py
@@ -1310,12 +1310,9 @@ def process(txn: Cursor) -> None:
 
         # ANALYZE the new column to build stats on it, to encourage PostgreSQL to use the
         # indexes on it.
-        # We need to pass execute a dummy function to handle the txn's result otherwise
-        # it tries to call fetchall() on it and fails because there's no result to fetch.
-        await self.db_pool.execute(
+        await self.db_pool.runInteraction(
             "background_analyze_new_stream_ordering_column",
-            lambda txn: None,
-            "ANALYZE events(stream_ordering2)",
+            lambda txn: txn.execute("ANALYZE events(stream_ordering2)"),
         )
 
         await self.db_pool.runInteraction(
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/media_repository.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/media_repository.py
index b244651ba6b9..30515a129900 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/media_repository.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/media_repository.py
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ async def get_remote_media_ids(
 
         return cast(
             List[Tuple[str, str, str]],
-            await self.db_pool.execute("get_remote_media_ids", None, sql, before_ts),
+            await self.db_pool.execute("get_remote_media_ids", sql, before_ts),
         )
 
     async def delete_remote_media(self, media_origin: str, media_id: str) -> None:
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/roommember.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/roommember.py
index 3a87eba430d8..0003f64849ad 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/roommember.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/roommember.py
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@ async def _check_host_room_membership(
         like_clause = "%:" + host
 
         rows = await self.db_pool.execute(
-            "is_host_joined", None, sql, membership, room_id, like_clause
+            "is_host_joined", sql, membership, room_id, like_clause
         )
 
         if not rows:
@@ -1165,7 +1165,7 @@ async def is_locally_forgotten_room(self, room_id: str) -> bool:
                 AND forgotten = 0;
         """
 
-        rows = await self.db_pool.execute("is_forgotten_room", None, sql, room_id)
+        rows = await self.db_pool.execute("is_forgotten_room", sql, room_id)
 
         # `count(*)` returns always an integer
         # If any rows still exist it means someone has not forgotten this room yet
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/search.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/search.py
index b5acee913237..731ac0eaf600 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/search.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/search.py
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ async def search_msgs(
         # List of tuples of (rank, room_id, event_id).
         results = cast(
             List[Tuple[int, str, str]],
-            await self.db_pool.execute("search_msgs", None, sql, *args),
+            await self.db_pool.execute("search_msgs", sql, *args),
         )
 
         results = list(filter(lambda row: row[1] in room_ids, results))
@@ -533,9 +533,7 @@ async def search_msgs(
         # List of tuples of (room_id, count).
         count_results = cast(
             List[Tuple[str, int]],
-            await self.db_pool.execute(
-                "search_rooms_count", None, count_sql, *count_args
-            ),
+            await self.db_pool.execute("search_rooms_count", count_sql, *count_args),
         )
 
         count = sum(row[1] for row in count_results if row[0] in room_ids)
@@ -675,7 +673,7 @@ async def search_rooms(
         # List of tuples of (rank, room_id, event_id, origin_server_ts, stream_ordering).
         results = cast(
             List[Tuple[int, str, str, int, int]],
-            await self.db_pool.execute("search_rooms", None, sql, *args),
+            await self.db_pool.execute("search_rooms", sql, *args),
         )
 
         results = list(filter(lambda row: row[1] in room_ids, results))
@@ -698,9 +696,7 @@ async def search_rooms(
         # List of tuples of (room_id, count).
         count_results = cast(
             List[Tuple[str, int]],
-            await self.db_pool.execute(
-                "search_rooms_count", None, count_sql, *count_args
-            ),
+            await self.db_pool.execute("search_rooms_count", count_sql, *count_args),
         )
 
         count = sum(row[1] for row in count_results if row[0] in room_ids)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/stream.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/stream.py
index 872df6bda12c..2225f8272d93 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/stream.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/stream.py
@@ -1078,7 +1078,7 @@ async def get_current_topological_token(self, room_id: str, stream_key: int) ->
         """
 
         row = await self.db_pool.execute(
-            "get_current_topological_token", None, sql, room_id, room_id, stream_key
+            "get_current_topological_token", sql, room_id, room_id, stream_key
         )
         return row[0][0] if row else 0
 
@@ -1636,7 +1636,6 @@ async def get_timeline_gaps(
 
         rows = await self.db_pool.execute(
             "get_timeline_gaps",
-            None,
             sql,
             room_id,
             from_token.stream if from_token else 0,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/main/user_directory.py b/synapse/storage/databases/main/user_directory.py
index 8a4dd75e52ed..a9f5d68b639a 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/main/user_directory.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/main/user_directory.py
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ async def search_user_dir(
 
         results = cast(
             List[Tuple[str, Optional[str], Optional[str]]],
-            await self.db_pool.execute("search_user_dir", None, sql, *args),
+            await self.db_pool.execute("search_user_dir", sql, *args),
         )
 
         limited = len(results) > limit
diff --git a/synapse/storage/databases/state/bg_updates.py b/synapse/storage/databases/state/bg_updates.py
index 6ff533a129bd..0f9c550b27e4 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/databases/state/bg_updates.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/databases/state/bg_updates.py
@@ -359,7 +359,6 @@ async def _background_deduplicate_state(
         if max_group is None:
             rows = await self.db_pool.execute(
                 "_background_deduplicate_state",
-                None,
                 "SELECT coalesce(max(id), 0) FROM state_groups",
             )
             max_group = rows[0][0]
diff --git a/tests/federation/test_federation_catch_up.py b/tests/federation/test_federation_catch_up.py
index 75ae740b435d..08214b001316 100644
--- a/tests/federation/test_federation_catch_up.py
+++ b/tests/federation/test_federation_catch_up.py
@@ -100,7 +100,6 @@ def get_destination_room(self, room: str, destination: str = "host2") -> dict:
         event_id, stream_ordering = self.get_success(
             self.hs.get_datastores().main.db_pool.execute(
                 "test:get_destination_rooms",
-                None,
                 """
                 SELECT event_id, stream_ordering
                     FROM destination_rooms dr
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_background_update.py b/tests/storage/test_background_update.py
index abf7d0564d81..3f23df0b2e48 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_background_update.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_background_update.py
@@ -456,17 +456,16 @@ def test_not_null_constraint(self) -> None:
             );
         """
         self.get_success(
-            self.store.db_pool.execute(
-                "test_not_null_constraint", lambda _: None, table_sql
+            self.store.db_pool.runInteraction(
+                "test_not_null_constraint", lambda txn: txn.execute(table_sql)
             )
         )
 
         # We add an index so that we can check that its correctly recreated when
         # using SQLite.
-        index_sql = "CREATE INDEX test_index ON test_constraint(a)"
         self.get_success(
-            self.store.db_pool.execute(
-                "test_not_null_constraint", lambda _: None, index_sql
+            self.store.db_pool.runInteraction(
+                "test_not_null_constraint", lambda txn: txn.execute(table_sql)
             )
         )
 
@@ -563,20 +562,14 @@ def test_foreign_constraint(self) -> None:
             );
         """
 
-        table_sql = """
-            CREATE TABLE test_constraint(
-                a INT PRIMARY KEY,
-                b INT NOT NULL
-            );
-        """
         self.get_success(
-            self.store.db_pool.execute(
-                "test_foreign_key_constraint", lambda _: None, base_sql
+            self.store.db_pool.runInteraction(
+                "test_foreign_key_constraint", lambda txn: txn.execute(base_sql)
             )
         )
         self.get_success(
-            self.store.db_pool.execute(
-                "test_foreign_key_constraint", lambda _: None, table_sql
+            self.store.db_pool.runInteraction(
+                "test_foreign_key_constraint", lambda txn: txn.execute(base_sql)
             )
         )
 
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_profile.py b/tests/storage/test_profile.py
index 95f99f413011..6afb5403bd13 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_profile.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_profile.py
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ def f(txn: LoggingTransaction) -> None:
 
         res = self.get_success(
             self.store.db_pool.execute(
-                "", None, "SELECT full_user_id from profiles ORDER BY full_user_id"
+                "", "SELECT full_user_id from profiles ORDER BY full_user_id"
             )
         )
         self.assertEqual(len(res), len(expected_values))
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_user_filters.py b/tests/storage/test_user_filters.py
index d4637d9d1ebb..2da6a018e8a8 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_user_filters.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_user_filters.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def f(txn: LoggingTransaction) -> None:
 
         res = self.get_success(
             self.store.db_pool.execute(
-                "", None, "SELECT full_user_id from user_filters ORDER BY full_user_id"
+                "", "SELECT full_user_id from user_filters ORDER BY full_user_id"
             )
         )
         self.assertEqual(len(res), len(expected_values))