diff --git a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx
index e951f9b9c..4d7f139ce 100644
--- a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx
+++ b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx
@@ -82,6 +82,12 @@ class EmptyState extends React.Component
     @_unlisteners.push NamespaceStore.listen(@_onNamespacesChanged, @)
     @_onNamespacesChanged()
 
+  shouldComponentUpdate: (nextProps, nextState) ->
+    # Avoid deep comparison of dataView, which is a very complex object
+    return true if nextProps.visible isnt @props.visible
+    return true if nextProps.dataView isnt @props.dataView
+    return not _.isEqual(nextState, @state)
+
   _onNamespacesChanged: ->
     namespace = NamespaceStore.current()
     @_worker = NylasAPI.workerForNamespace(namespace)
diff --git a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-icon.cjsx b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-icon.cjsx
index 2d0e1ea28..b9dc25fe8 100644
--- a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-icon.cjsx
+++ b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-icon.cjsx
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ class ThreadListIcon extends React.Component
     msgs = _.filter msgs, (m) -> m.isSaved() and not m.draft
     return msgs
 
+  shouldComponentUpdate: (nextProps) =>
+    return false if nextProps.thread is @props.thread
+    true
+
   render: =>
     <div className="thread-icon #{@_iconType()}" onClick={@_onToggleStar}></div>
 
diff --git a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-participants.cjsx b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-participants.cjsx
index ea73f3fd8..cb1125d92 100644
--- a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-participants.cjsx
+++ b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/thread-list-participants.cjsx
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ class ThreadListParticipants extends React.Component
   @propTypes:
     thread: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired
 
+  shouldComponentUpdate: (nextProps) =>
+    return false if nextProps.thread is @props.thread
+    true
+
   render: =>
     items = @getParticipants()