diff --git a/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-item.coffee b/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-item.coffee
index 92c127e7f..cd55a4595 100644
--- a/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-item.coffee
+++ b/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-item.coffee
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ _str = require 'underscore.string'
  DestroyCategoryTask,
  CategoryStore,
  Actions,
- Utils} = require 'nylas-exports'
+ Utils,
+ RegExpUtils} = require 'nylas-exports'
 {OutlineViewItem} = require 'nylas-component-kit'
 
 SidebarActions = require './sidebar-actions'
@@ -51,7 +52,19 @@ onEditItem = (item, value) ->
   return if item.deleted is true
   category = item.perspective.category()
   return unless category
-  Actions.queueTask(new SyncbackCategoryTask({category, displayName: value}))
+  re = RegExpUtils.subcategorySplitRegex()
+  match = re.exec(category.displayName)
+  lastMatch = match
+  while match
+    lastMatch = match
+    match = re.exec(category.displayName)
+  if lastMatch
+    newDisplayName = category.displayName.slice(0, lastMatch.index + 1) + value
+  else
+    newDisplayName = value
+  if newDisplayName is category.displayName
+    return
+  Actions.queueTask(new SyncbackCategoryTask({category, displayName: newDisplayName}))
 
 
 class SidebarItem
diff --git a/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-section.coffee b/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-section.coffee
index 7ae953781..4a3884071 100644
--- a/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-section.coffee
+++ b/internal_packages/account-sidebar/lib/sidebar-section.coffee
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ _ = require 'underscore'
  SyncbackCategoryTask,
  DestroyCategoryTask,
  CategoryStore,
- Category} = require 'nylas-exports'
+ Category,
+ RegExpUtils} = require 'nylas-exports'
 SidebarItem = require './sidebar-item'
 SidebarActions = require './sidebar-actions'
 
@@ -119,7 +120,8 @@ class SidebarSection
     seenItems = {}
     for category in CategoryStore.userCategories(account)
       # https://regex101.com/r/jK8cC2/1
-      itemKey = category.displayName.replace(/[./\\]/g, '/')
+      re = RegExpUtils.subcategorySplitRegex()
+      itemKey = category.displayName.replace(re, '/')
 
       parent = null
       parentComponents = itemKey.split('/')
diff --git a/internal_packages/account-sidebar/spec/sidebar-item-spec.es6 b/internal_packages/account-sidebar/spec/sidebar-item-spec.es6
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3103bf16c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal_packages/account-sidebar/spec/sidebar-item-spec.es6
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import {Category, Actions} from "nylas-exports"
+import SidebarItem from "../lib/sidebar-item"
+
+describe("sidebar-item", function sidebarItemSpec() {
+  it("preserves nested labels on rename", () => {
+    spyOn(Actions, "queueTask")
+    const categories = [new Category({displayName: 'a.b/c', accountId: window.TEST_ACCOUNT_ID})]
+    NylasEnv.savedState.sidebarKeysCollapsed = {}
+    const item = SidebarItem.forCategories(categories)
+    item.onEdited(item, 'd')
+    const task = Actions.queueTask.calls[0].args[0]
+    expect(task.displayName).toBe("a.b/d")
+  })
+  it("preserves labels on rename", () => {
+    spyOn(Actions, "queueTask")
+    const categories = [new Category({displayName: 'a', accountId: window.TEST_ACCOUNT_ID})]
+    NylasEnv.savedState.sidebarKeysCollapsed = {}
+    const item = SidebarItem.forCategories(categories)
+    item.onEdited(item, 'b')
+    const task = Actions.queueTask.calls[0].args[0]
+    expect(task.displayName).toBe("b")
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/regexp-utils.coffee b/src/regexp-utils.coffee
index 5d0c1a692..2e27039e4 100644
--- a/src/regexp-utils.coffee
+++ b/src/regexp-utils.coffee
@@ -175,4 +175,8 @@ RegExpUtils =
   n1QuoteStartRegex: ->
     new RegExp(/<\w+[^>]*gmail_quote/i)
 
+  # https://regex101.com/r/jK8cC2/1
+  subcategorySplitRegex: ->
+    /[./\\]/g
+
 module.exports = RegExpUtils