diff --git a/commafeed-client/src/app/tree/thunks.ts b/commafeed-client/src/app/tree/thunks.ts
index 83ee2b66..38b98529 100644
--- a/commafeed-client/src/app/tree/thunks.ts
+++ b/commafeed-client/src/app/tree/thunks.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import { createAppAsyncThunk } from "app/async-thunk"
 import { client } from "app/client"
+import { incrementUnreadCount } from "app/tree/slice"
 import type { CollapseRequest } from "app/types"
+import { flattenCategoryTree } from "app/utils"
 
 export const reloadTree = createAppAsyncThunk("tree/reload", async () => await client.category.getRoot().then(r => r.data))
 
@@ -8,3 +10,26 @@ export const collapseTreeCategory = createAppAsyncThunk(
     "tree/category/collapse",
     async (req: CollapseRequest) => await client.category.collapse(req)
 )
+
+export const newFeedEntriesDiscovered = createAppAsyncThunk(
+    "tree/new-feed-entries-discovered",
+    async ({ feedId, amount }: { feedId: number; amount: number }, thunkApi) => {
+        const root = thunkApi.getState().tree.rootCategory
+        if (!root) return
+
+        const feed = flattenCategoryTree(root)
+            .flatMap(c => c.feeds)
+            .some(f => f.id === feedId)
+        if (!feed) {
+            // feed not found in the tree, reload the tree completely
+            thunkApi.dispatch(reloadTree())
+        } else {
+            thunkApi.dispatch(
+                incrementUnreadCount({
+                    feedId,
+                    amount,
+                })
+            )
+        }
+    }
+)
diff --git a/commafeed-client/src/hooks/useWebSocket.ts b/commafeed-client/src/hooks/useWebSocket.ts
index b13958c6..3d8a13ae 100644
--- a/commafeed-client/src/hooks/useWebSocket.ts
+++ b/commafeed-client/src/hooks/useWebSocket.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { setWebSocketConnected } from "app/server/slice"
 import { type AppDispatch, useAppDispatch, useAppSelector } from "app/store"
-import { incrementUnreadCount } from "app/tree/slice"
+import { newFeedEntriesDiscovered } from "app/tree/thunks"
 import { useEffect } from "react"
 import WebsocketHeartbeatJs from "websocket-heartbeat-js"
 
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ const handleMessage = (dispatch: AppDispatch, message: string) => {
     const type = parts[0]
     if (type === "new-feed-entries") {
         dispatch(
-            incrementUnreadCount({
+            newFeedEntriesDiscovered({
                 feedId: +parts[1],
                 amount: +parts[2],
             })