diff --git a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host.ts b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host.ts
index 4641897..b1bad1c 100644
--- a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host.ts
+++ b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
   PatchRange,
   PatchSetNum,
   RepoName,
+  UrlEncodedCommentId,
 } from '../../../types/common';
 import {
   DiffInfo,
@@ -730,11 +731,24 @@
   }
 
   _threadsChanged(threads: CommentThread[]) {
-    const threadEls = new Set<Object>();
+    const threadEls = new Set<GrCommentThread>();
+    const rootIdToThreadEl = new Map<UrlEncodedCommentId, GrCommentThread>();
+    for (const threadEl of this.getThreadEls()) {
+      if (threadEl.rootId) {
+        rootIdToThreadEl.set(threadEl.rootId, threadEl);
+      }
+    }
     for (const thread of threads) {
-      const threadEl = this._createThreadElement(thread);
-      this._attachThreadElement(threadEl);
-      threadEls.add(threadEl);
+      const existingThreadEl =
+        thread.rootId && rootIdToThreadEl.get(thread.rootId);
+      if (existingThreadEl) {
+        this._updateThreadElement(existingThreadEl, thread);
+        threadEls.add(existingThreadEl);
+      } else {
+        const threadEl = this._createThreadElement(thread);
+        this._attachThreadElement(threadEl);
+        threadEls.add(threadEl);
+      }
     }
     // Remove all threads that are no longer existing.
     for (const threadEl of this.getThreadEls()) {
diff --git a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host_test.js b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host_test.js
index ed3ffe0..8901636 100644
--- a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host_test.js
+++ b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/diff/gr-diff-host/gr-diff-host_test.js
@@ -1145,11 +1145,19 @@
           .queryDistributedElements('gr-comment-thread');
 
       assert.equal(threads.length, 1);
-
       element.threads= [...element.threads, thread];
 
       threads = dom(element.$.diff)
           .queryDistributedElements('gr-comment-thread');
+      // Threads have same rootId so element is reused
+      assert.equal(threads.length, 1);
+
+      const newThread = {...thread};
+      newThread.rootId = 'differentRootId';
+      element.threads= [...element.threads, newThread];
+      threads = dom(element.$.diff)
+          .queryDistributedElements('gr-comment-thread');
+      // New thread has a different rootId
       assert.equal(threads.length, 2);
     });