diff --git a/src/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver.ts b/src/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver.ts
index dfd1ae50b80..b21152beb22 100644
--- a/src/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver.ts
+++ b/src/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import {
     WidgetDriver,
     WidgetEventCapability,
     WidgetKind,
+    ISearchUserDirectoryResult,
 } from "matrix-widget-api";
 import { ClientEvent, ITurnServer as IClientTurnServer } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/client";
 import { EventType } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/@types/event";
@@ -486,4 +487,19 @@ export class StopGapWidgetDriver extends WidgetDriver {
             prevBatch: prevBatch ?? undefined,
         };
     }
+
+    public async searchUserDirectory(searchTerm: string, limit?: number): Promise<ISearchUserDirectoryResult> {
+        const client = MatrixClientPeg.get();
+
+        const { limited, results } = await client.searchUserDirectory({ term: searchTerm, limit });
+
+        return {
+            limited,
+            results: results.map((r) => ({
+                userId: r.user_id,
+                displayName: r.display_name,
+                avatarUrl: r.avatar_url,
+            })),
+        };
+    }
 }
diff --git a/test/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver-test.ts b/test/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver-test.ts
index 6bb82a065e9..28f2becbeff 100644
--- a/test/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver-test.ts
+++ b/test/stores/widgets/StopGapWidgetDriver-test.ts
@@ -394,4 +394,40 @@ describe("StopGapWidgetDriver", () => {
             expect(client.getVisibleRooms).toHaveBeenCalledWith(true);
         });
     });
+
+    describe("searchUserDirectory", () => {
+        let driver: WidgetDriver;
+
+        beforeEach(() => {
+            driver = mkDefaultDriver();
+        });
+
+        it("searches for users in the user directory", async () => {
+            client.searchUserDirectory.mockResolvedValue({
+                limited: false,
+                results: [{ user_id: "@user", display_name: "Name", avatar_url: "mxc://" }],
+            });
+
+            await expect(driver.searchUserDirectory("foo")).resolves.toEqual({
+                limited: false,
+                results: [{ userId: "@user", displayName: "Name", avatarUrl: "mxc://" }],
+            });
+
+            expect(client.searchUserDirectory).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ term: "foo", limit: undefined });
+        });
+
+        it("searches for users with a custom limit", async () => {
+            client.searchUserDirectory.mockResolvedValue({
+                limited: true,
+                results: [],
+            });
+
+            await expect(driver.searchUserDirectory("foo", 25)).resolves.toEqual({
+                limited: true,
+                results: [],
+            });
+
+            expect(client.searchUserDirectory).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ term: "foo", limit: 25 });
+        });
+    });
 });
diff --git a/test/test-utils/test-utils.ts b/test/test-utils/test-utils.ts
index 05e86a3b8f4..add949b12dc 100644
--- a/test/test-utils/test-utils.ts
+++ b/test/test-utils/test-utils.ts
@@ -231,6 +231,8 @@ export function createTestClient(): MatrixClient {
                 room_id: roomId,
             });
         }),
+
+        searchUserDirectory: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({ limited: false, results: [] }),
     } as unknown as MatrixClient;
 
     client.reEmitter = new ReEmitter(client);
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index dfd1abd0b18..ca1ba5485b3 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -6510,15 +6510,7 @@ matrix-web-i18n@^1.3.0:
     "@babel/traverse" "^7.18.5"
     walk "^2.3.15"
 
-matrix-widget-api@^1.0.0:
-  version "1.1.1"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/matrix-widget-api/-/matrix-widget-api-1.1.1.tgz#d3fec45033d0cbc14387a38ba92dac4dbb1be962"
-  integrity sha512-gNSgmgSwvOsOcWK9k2+tOhEMYBiIMwX95vMZu0JqY7apkM02xrOzUBuPRProzN8CnbIALH7e3GAhatF6QCNvtA==
-  dependencies:
-    "@types/events" "^3.0.0"
-    events "^3.2.0"
-
-matrix-widget-api@^1.3.1:
+matrix-widget-api@^1.0.0, matrix-widget-api@^1.3.1:
   version "1.3.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/matrix-widget-api/-/matrix-widget-api-1.3.1.tgz#e38f404c76bb15c113909505c1c1a5b4d781c2f5"
   integrity sha512-+rN6vGvnXm+fn0uq9r2KWSL/aPtehD6ObC50jYmUcEfgo8CUpf9eUurmjbRlwZkWq3XHXFuKQBUCI9UzqWg37Q==