diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomList.tsx b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomList.tsx
index ef331fe1f5..d8ea45eac2 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomList.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomList.tsx
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ import { ViewRoomDeltaPayload } from "../../../dispatcher/payloads/ViewRoomDelta
 import { RoomNotificationStateStore } from "../../../stores/notifications/RoomNotificationStateStore";
 import SettingsStore from "../../../settings/SettingsStore";
 import CustomRoomTagStore from "../../../stores/CustomRoomTagStore";
-import { arrayHasDiff } from "../../../utils/arrays";
+import { arrayFastClone, arrayHasDiff } from "../../../utils/arrays";
+import { objectShallowClone } from "../../../utils/objects";
 
 interface IProps {
     onKeyDown: (ev: React.KeyboardEvent) => void;
@@ -255,7 +256,11 @@ export default class RoomList extends React.Component<IProps, IState> {
         }
 
         if (doUpdate) {
-            this.setState({sublists: newLists}, () => {
+            // We have to break our reference to the room list store if we want to be able to
+            // diff the object for changes, so do that.
+            const sublists = objectShallowClone(newLists, (k, v) => arrayFastClone(v));
+
+            this.setState({sublists: sublists}, () => {
                 this.props.onResize();
             });
         }
diff --git a/src/utils/arrays.ts b/src/utils/arrays.ts
index ca82059b01..2a5b1b5f16 100644
--- a/src/utils/arrays.ts
+++ b/src/utils/arrays.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
+/**
+ * Clones an array as fast as possible, retaining references of the array's values.
+ * @param a The array to clone. Must be defined.
+ * @returns A copy of the array.
+ */
+export function arrayFastClone(a: any[]): any[] {
+    return a.slice(0, a.length);
+}
+
 /**
  * Determines if the two arrays are different either in length, contents,
  * or order of those contents.
diff --git a/src/utils/objects.ts b/src/utils/objects.ts
index c3fbc64022..db8248759d 100644
--- a/src/utils/objects.ts
+++ b/src/utils/objects.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,28 @@ export function objectExcluding(a: any, props: string[]): any {
     }, {});
 }
 
+/**
+ * Clones an object to a caller-controlled depth. When a propertyCloner is supplied, the
+ * object's properties will be passed through it with the return value used as the new
+ * object's type. This is intended to be used to deep clone a reference, but without
+ * having to deep clone the entire object. This function is safe to call recursively within
+ * the propertyCloner.
+ * @param a The object to clone. Must be defined.
+ * @param propertyCloner The function to clone the properties of the object with, optionally.
+ * First argument is the property key with the second being the current value.
+ * @returns A cloned object.
+ */
+export function objectShallowClone(a: any, propertyCloner?: (k: string, v: any) => any): any {
+    const newObj = {};
+    for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(a)) {
+        newObj[k] = v;
+        if (propertyCloner) {
+            newObj[k] = propertyCloner(k, v);
+        }
+    }
+    return newObj;
+}
+
 /**
  * Determines if the two objects, which are assumed to be of the same
  * key shape, have a difference in their values. If a difference is