diff --git a/spec/editor-component-spec.coffee b/spec/editor-component-spec.coffee
index feebc299f..8733db9ce 100644
--- a/spec/editor-component-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/editor-component-spec.coffee
@@ -788,6 +788,21 @@ describe "EditorComponent", ->
 
           expect(component.mouseWheelScreenRow).toBe null
 
+        it "does not preserve the line if it is on screen", ->
+          expect(node.querySelectorAll('.line-number').length).toBe 14 # dummy line
+          lineNodes = node.querySelectorAll('.line')
+          expect(lineNodes.length).toBe 13
+          lineNode = lineNodes[0]
+
+          wheelEvent = new WheelEvent('mousewheel', wheelDeltaX: 0, wheelDeltaY: 100) # goes nowhere, we're already at scrollTop 0
+          Object.defineProperty(wheelEvent, 'target', get: -> lineNode)
+          node.dispatchEvent(wheelEvent)
+
+          expect(component.mouseWheelScreenRow).toBe 0
+          editor.insertText("hello")
+          expect(node.querySelectorAll('.line-number').length).toBe 14 # dummy line
+          expect(node.querySelectorAll('.line').length).toBe 13
+
       describe "when the mousewheel event's target is a line number", ->
         it "keeps the line number on the DOM if it is scrolled off-screen", ->
           node.style.height = 4.5 * lineHeightInPixels + 'px'
diff --git a/src/editor-component.coffee b/src/editor-component.coffee
index 0a1df0a5c..de2e40ddb 100644
--- a/src/editor-component.coffee
+++ b/src/editor-component.coffee
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ EditorComponent = React.createClass
 
     if @isMounted()
       renderedRowRange = @getRenderedRowRange()
+      [renderedStartRow, renderedEndRow] = renderedRowRange
       scrollHeight = editor.getScrollHeight()
       scrollWidth = editor.getScrollWidth()
       scrollTop = editor.getScrollTop()
@@ -48,6 +49,8 @@ EditorComponent = React.createClass
       verticalScrollbarWidth = editor.getVerticalScrollbarWidth()
       verticallyScrollable = editor.verticallyScrollable()
       horizontallyScrollable = editor.horizontallyScrollable()
+      if @mouseWheelScreenRow? and not (renderedStartRow <= @mouseWheelScreenRow < renderedEndRow)
+        mouseWheelScreenRow = @mouseWheelScreenRow
 
     className = 'editor editor-colors react'
     className += ' is-focused' if focused
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ EditorComponent = React.createClass
       GutterComponent {
         ref: 'gutter', editor, renderedRowRange, maxLineNumberDigits,
         scrollTop, scrollHeight, lineHeight, lineHeightInPixels, fontSize, fontFamily,
-        @pendingChanges, onWidthChanged: @onGutterWidthChanged, @mouseWheelScreenRow
+        @pendingChanges, onWidthChanged: @onGutterWidthChanged, mouseWheelScreenRow
       }
 
       EditorScrollViewComponent {
@@ -64,7 +67,7 @@ EditorComponent = React.createClass
         lineHeight, lineHeightInPixels, renderedRowRange, @pendingChanges,
         scrollTop, scrollLeft, scrollHeight, scrollWidth, @scrollingVertically,
         @cursorsMoved, @selectionChanged, @selectionAdded, cursorBlinkPeriod,
-        cursorBlinkResumeDelay, @onInputFocused, @onInputBlurred, @mouseWheelScreenRow,
+        cursorBlinkResumeDelay, @onInputFocused, @onInputBlurred, mouseWheelScreenRow,
         invisibles, visible, scrollViewHeight, focused
       }