diff --git a/src/components/views/elements/LazyRenderList.js b/src/components/views/elements/LazyRenderList.js
index d7d2a0ab99..0fc0ef6733 100644
--- a/src/components/views/elements/LazyRenderList.js
+++ b/src/components/views/elements/LazyRenderList.js
@@ -15,9 +15,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 */
 
 import React from "react";
-
-const OVERFLOW_ITEMS = 20;
-const OVERFLOW_MARGIN = 5;
+import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
 
 class ItemRange {
     constructor(topCount, renderCount, bottomCount) {
@@ -27,11 +25,22 @@ class ItemRange {
     }
 
     contains(range) {
+        // don't contain empty ranges
+        // as it will prevent clearing the list
+        // once it is scrolled far enough out of view
+        if (!range.renderCount && this.renderCount) {
+            return false;
+        }
         return range.topCount >= this.topCount &&
             (range.topCount + range.renderCount) <= (this.topCount + this.renderCount);
     }
 
     expand(amount) {
+        // don't expand ranges that won't render anything
+        if (this.renderCount === 0) {
+            return this;
+        }
+
         const topGrow = Math.min(amount, this.topCount);
         const bottomGrow = Math.min(amount, this.bottomCount);
         return new ItemRange(
@@ -40,52 +49,80 @@ class ItemRange {
             this.bottomCount - bottomGrow,
         );
     }
+
+    totalSize() {
+        return this.topCount + this.renderCount + this.bottomCount;
+    }
 }
 
 export default class LazyRenderList extends React.Component {
-    constructor(props) {
-        super(props);
-        const renderRange = LazyRenderList.getVisibleRangeFromProps(props).expand(OVERFLOW_ITEMS);
-        this.state = {renderRange};
+    static getDerivedStateFromProps(props, state) {
+        const range = LazyRenderList.getVisibleRangeFromProps(props);
+        const intersectRange = range.expand(props.overflowMargin);
+        const renderRange = range.expand(props.overflowItems);
+        const listHasChangedSize = !!state && renderRange.totalSize() !== state.renderRange.totalSize();
+        // only update render Range if the list has shrunk/grown and we need to adjust padding OR
+        // if the new range + overflowMargin isn't contained by the old anymore
+        if (listHasChangedSize || !state || !state.renderRange.contains(intersectRange)) {
+            return {renderRange};
+        }
+        return null;
     }
 
     static getVisibleRangeFromProps(props) {
         const {items, itemHeight, scrollTop, height} = props;
         const length = items ? items.length : 0;
-        const topCount = Math.max(0, Math.floor(scrollTop / itemHeight));
+        const topCount = Math.min(Math.max(0, Math.floor(scrollTop / itemHeight)), length);
         const itemsAfterTop = length - topCount;
-        const renderCount = Math.min(Math.ceil(height / itemHeight), itemsAfterTop);
+        const visibleItems = height !== 0 ? Math.ceil(height / itemHeight) : 0;
+        const renderCount = Math.min(visibleItems, itemsAfterTop);
         const bottomCount = itemsAfterTop - renderCount;
         return new ItemRange(topCount, renderCount, bottomCount);
     }
 
-    componentWillReceiveProps(props) {
-        const state = this.state;
-        const range = LazyRenderList.getVisibleRangeFromProps(props);
-        const intersectRange = range.expand(OVERFLOW_MARGIN);
-
-        const prevSize = this.props.items ? this.props.items.length : 0;
-        const listHasChangedSize = props.items.length !== prevSize;
-        // only update renderRange if the list has shrunk/grown and we need to adjust padding or
-        // if the new range isn't contained by the old anymore
-        if (listHasChangedSize || !state.renderRange || !state.renderRange.contains(intersectRange)) {
-            this.setState({renderRange: range.expand(OVERFLOW_ITEMS)});
-        }
-    }
-
     render() {
         const {itemHeight, items, renderItem} = this.props;
-
         const {renderRange} = this.state;
-        const paddingTop = renderRange.topCount * itemHeight;
-        const paddingBottom = renderRange.bottomCount * itemHeight;
+        const {topCount, renderCount, bottomCount} = renderRange;
+
+        const paddingTop = topCount * itemHeight;
+        const paddingBottom = bottomCount * itemHeight;
         const renderedItems = (items || []).slice(
-            renderRange.topCount,
-            renderRange.topCount + renderRange.renderCount,
+            topCount,
+            topCount + renderCount,
         );
 
-        return (<div style={{paddingTop: `${paddingTop}px`, paddingBottom: `${paddingBottom}px`}}>
-            { renderedItems.map(renderItem) }
-        </div>);
+        const element = this.props.element || "div";
+        const elementProps = {
+            "style": {paddingTop: `${paddingTop}px`, paddingBottom: `${paddingBottom}px`},
+            "className": this.props.className,
+        };
+        return React.createElement(element, elementProps, renderedItems.map(renderItem));
     }
 }
+
+LazyRenderList.defaultProps = {
+    overflowItems: 20,
+    overflowMargin: 5,
+};
+
+LazyRenderList.propTypes = {
+    // height in pixels of the component returned by `renderItem`
+    itemHeight: PropTypes.number.isRequired,
+    // function to turn an element of `items` into a react component
+    renderItem: PropTypes.func.isRequired,
+    // scrollTop of the viewport (minus the height of any content above this list like other `LazyRenderList`s)
+    scrollTop: PropTypes.number.isRequired,
+    // the height of the viewport this content is scrolled in
+    height: PropTypes.number.isRequired,
+    // all items for the list. These should not be react components, see `renderItem`.
+    items: PropTypes.array,
+    // the amount of items to scroll before causing a rerender,
+    // should typically be less than `overflowItems` unless applying
+    // margins in the parent component when using multiple LazyRenderList in one viewport.
+    // use 0 to only rerender when items will come into view.
+    overflowMargin: PropTypes.number,
+    // the amount of items to add at the top and bottom to render,
+    // so not every scroll of causes a rerender.
+    overflowItems: PropTypes.number,
+};
diff --git a/src/components/views/emojipicker/Category.js b/src/components/views/emojipicker/Category.js
index ba48c8842b..ba525b76e2 100644
--- a/src/components/views/emojipicker/Category.js
+++ b/src/components/views/emojipicker/Category.js
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 import React from 'react';
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
-
+import { CATEGORY_HEADER_HEIGHT, EMOJI_HEIGHT, EMOJIS_PER_ROW } from "./EmojiPicker";
 import sdk from '../../../index';
 
+const OVERFLOW_ROWS = 3;
+
 class Category extends React.PureComponent {
     static propTypes = {
         emojis: PropTypes.arrayOf(PropTypes.object).isRequired,
@@ -30,22 +32,54 @@ class Category extends React.PureComponent {
         selectedEmojis: PropTypes.instanceOf(Set),
     };
 
+    _renderEmojiRow = (rowIndex) => {
+        const { onClick, onMouseEnter, onMouseLeave, selectedEmojis, emojis } = this.props;
+        const emojisForRow = emojis.slice(rowIndex * 8, (rowIndex + 1) * 8);
+        const Emoji = sdk.getComponent("emojipicker.Emoji");
+        return (<div key={rowIndex}>{
+            emojisForRow.map(emoji =>
+                <Emoji key={emoji.hexcode} emoji={emoji} selectedEmojis={selectedEmojis}
+                    onClick={onClick} onMouseEnter={onMouseEnter} onMouseLeave={onMouseLeave} />)
+        }</div>);
+    };
+
     render() {
-        const { onClick, onMouseEnter, onMouseLeave, emojis, name, selectedEmojis } = this.props;
+        const { emojis, name, heightBefore, viewportHeight, scrollTop } = this.props;
         if (!emojis || emojis.length === 0) {
             return null;
         }
+        const rows = new Array(Math.ceil(emojis.length / EMOJIS_PER_ROW));
+        for (let counter = 0; counter < rows.length; ++counter) {
+            rows[counter] = counter;
+        }
+        const LazyRenderList = sdk.getComponent('elements.LazyRenderList');
+
+        const viewportTop = scrollTop;
+        const viewportBottom = viewportTop + viewportHeight;
+        const listTop = heightBefore + CATEGORY_HEADER_HEIGHT;
+        const listBottom = listTop + (rows.length * EMOJI_HEIGHT);
+        const top = Math.max(viewportTop, listTop);
+        const bottom = Math.min(viewportBottom, listBottom);
+        // the viewport height and scrollTop passed to the LazyRenderList
+        // is capped at the intersection with the real viewport, so lists
+        // out of view are passed height 0, so they won't render any items.
+        const localHeight = Math.max(0, bottom - top);
+        const localScrollTop = Math.max(0, scrollTop - listTop);
 
-        const Emoji = sdk.getComponent("emojipicker.Emoji");
         return (
             <section className="mx_EmojiPicker_category" data-category-id={this.props.id}>
                 <h2 className="mx_EmojiPicker_category_label">
                     {name}
                 </h2>
-                <ul className="mx_EmojiPicker_list">
-                    {emojis.map(emoji => <Emoji key={emoji.hexcode} emoji={emoji} selectedEmojis={selectedEmojis}
-                        onClick={onClick} onMouseEnter={onMouseEnter} onMouseLeave={onMouseLeave} />)}
-                </ul>
+                <LazyRenderList
+                    element="ul" className="mx_EmojiPicker_list"
+                    itemHeight={EMOJI_HEIGHT} items={rows}
+                    scrollTop={localScrollTop}
+                    height={localHeight}
+                    overflowItems={OVERFLOW_ROWS}
+                    overflowMargin={0}
+                    renderItem={this._renderEmojiRow}>
+                </LazyRenderList>
             </section>
         );
     }
diff --git a/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.js b/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.js
index 6d34804187..48713b90d8 100644
--- a/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.js
+++ b/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.js
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@ EMOJIBASE.forEach(emoji => {
     emoji.filterString = `${emoji.annotation}\n${emoji.shortcodes.join('\n')}}\n${emoji.emoticon || ''}`;
 });
 
+export const CATEGORY_HEADER_HEIGHT = 22;
+export const EMOJI_HEIGHT = 37;
+export const EMOJIS_PER_ROW = 8;
+
 class EmojiPicker extends React.Component {
     static propTypes = {
         onChoose: PropTypes.func.isRequired,
@@ -71,6 +75,11 @@ class EmojiPicker extends React.Component {
         this.state = {
             filter: "",
             previewEmoji: null,
+            scrollTop: 0,
+            // initial estimation of height, dialog is hardcoded to 450px height.
+            // should be enough to never have blank rows of emojis as
+            // 3 rows of overflow are also rendered. The actual value is updated on scroll.
+            viewportHeight: 280,
         };
 
         this.recentlyUsed = recent.get().map(unicode => DATA_BY_EMOJI[unicode]);
@@ -145,10 +154,20 @@ class EmojiPicker extends React.Component {
         this.updateVisibility = this.updateVisibility.bind(this);
     }
 
+    onScroll = () => {
+        const body = this.bodyRef.current;
+        this.setState({
+            scrollTop: body.scrollTop,
+            viewportHeight: body.clientHeight,
+        });
+        this.updateVisibility();
+    };
+
     updateVisibility() {
-        const rect = this.bodyRef.current.getBoundingClientRect();
+        const body = this.bodyRef.current;
+        const rect = body.getBoundingClientRect();
         for (const cat of this.categories) {
-            const elem = this.bodyRef.current.querySelector(`[data-category-id="${cat.id}"]`);
+            const elem = body.querySelector(`[data-category-id="${cat.id}"]`);
             if (!elem) {
                 cat.visible = false;
                 cat.ref.current.classList.remove("mx_EmojiPicker_anchor_visible");
@@ -210,23 +229,36 @@ class EmojiPicker extends React.Component {
         }
     }
 
+    _categoryHeightForEmojiCount(count) {
+        if (count === 0) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+        return CATEGORY_HEADER_HEIGHT + (Math.ceil(count / EMOJIS_PER_ROW) * EMOJI_HEIGHT);
+    }
+
     render() {
         const Header = sdk.getComponent("emojipicker.Header");
         const Search = sdk.getComponent("emojipicker.Search");
         const Category = sdk.getComponent("emojipicker.Category");
         const Preview = sdk.getComponent("emojipicker.Preview");
         const QuickReactions = sdk.getComponent("emojipicker.QuickReactions");
+        let heightBefore = 0;
         return (
             <div className="mx_EmojiPicker">
                 <Header categories={this.categories} defaultCategory="recent" onAnchorClick={this.scrollToCategory} />
                 <Search query={this.state.filter} onChange={this.onChangeFilter} />
-                <div className="mx_EmojiPicker_body" ref={this.bodyRef} onScroll={this.updateVisibility}>
-                    {this.categories.map(category => (
-                        <Category key={category.id} id={category.id} name={category.name}
-                            emojis={this.memoizedDataByCategory[category.id]} onClick={this.onClickEmoji}
+                <div className="mx_EmojiPicker_body" ref={this.bodyRef} onScroll={this.onScroll}>
+                    {this.categories.map(category => {
+                        const emojis = this.memoizedDataByCategory[category.id];
+                        const categoryElement = (<Category key={category.id} id={category.id} name={category.name}
+                            heightBefore={heightBefore} viewportHeight={this.state.viewportHeight}
+                            scrollTop={this.state.scrollTop} emojis={emojis} onClick={this.onClickEmoji}
                             onMouseEnter={this.onHoverEmoji} onMouseLeave={this.onHoverEmojiEnd}
-                            selectedEmojis={this.props.selectedEmojis} />
-                    ))}
+                            selectedEmojis={this.props.selectedEmojis} />);
+                        const height = this._categoryHeightForEmojiCount(emojis.length);
+                        heightBefore += height;
+                        return categoryElement;
+                    })}
                 </div>
                 {this.state.previewEmoji || !this.props.showQuickReactions
                     ? <Preview emoji={this.state.previewEmoji} />