diff --git a/static/js/stream_list.js b/static/js/stream_list.js
index 0ebe37279d..a7a1930489 100644
--- a/static/js/stream_list.js
+++ b/static/js/stream_list.js
@@ -223,6 +223,14 @@ function animate_mention_changes(new_mention_count) {
     last_mention_count = new_mention_count;
 }
 
+
+exports.set_presence_list_counts = function (count_dict) {
+    // count_dict maps people (emails, actually) to counts
+    count_dict.each(function (count, person) {
+        exports.set_count("private", person, count);
+    });
+};
+
 exports.update_dom_with_unread_counts = function (counts) {
     // counts is just a data object that gets calculated elsewhere
     // Our job is to update some DOM elements.
@@ -239,10 +247,7 @@ exports.update_dom_with_unread_counts = function (counts) {
         });
     });
 
-    // counts.pm_count maps people to counts
-    counts.pm_count.each(function (count, person) {
-        exports.set_count("private", person, count);
-    });
+    exports.set_presence_list_counts(counts.pm_count);
 
     // integer counts
     exports.set_count("global", "private", counts.private_message_count);
diff --git a/static/js/ui.js b/static/js/ui.js
index 7506687db6..fe5a3d2843 100644
--- a/static/js/ui.js
+++ b/static/js/ui.js
@@ -1483,10 +1483,18 @@ exports.set_presence_list = function (users, presence_info) {
     var user_info = [my_info].concat(_.map(user_emails, info_for));
 
     $('#user_presences').html(templates.render('user_presence_rows', {users: user_info}));
-    // FIXME: This should probably be rendered in the template directly, but
-    // currently we have to update unread counts after rendering the template
-    // or they get blown away.
-    update_unread_counts();
+
+    // Update the counts in the presence list.
+    if (!suppress_unread_counts) {
+        // We do this after rendering the template, to avoid dealing with
+        // the suppress_unread_counts conditional in the template.
+        var count_dict = new Dict();
+        _.each(users, function (email) {
+            count_dict.set(email, unread.num_unread_for_person(email));
+        });
+        count_dict.set(page_params.email, unread.num_unread_for_person(page_params.email));
+        stream_list.set_presence_list_counts(count_dict);
+    }
 };
 
 // Save the compose content cursor position and restore when we
diff --git a/static/js/unread.js b/static/js/unread.js
index 5af002664f..84c62628b3 100644
--- a/static/js/unread.js
+++ b/static/js/unread.js
@@ -173,6 +173,13 @@ exports.num_unread_for_subject = function (stream, subject) {
     return num_unread;
 };
 
+exports.num_unread_for_person = function (email) {
+    if (!unread_counts['private'].has(email)) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+    return _.keys(unread_counts['private'].get(email)).length;
+};
+
 return exports;
 }());
 if (typeof module !== 'undefined') {
diff --git a/tools/jslint/check-all.js b/tools/jslint/check-all.js
index 722090f55a..ae2f5cbffc 100644
--- a/tools/jslint/check-all.js
+++ b/tools/jslint/check-all.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ var globals =
     + ' mark_message_as_read'
     + ' send_summarize_in_home'
     + ' send_summarize_in_stream'
-    + ' update_unread_counts'
+    + ' suppress_unread_counts'
     ;
 
 
diff --git a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/unread.js b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/unread.js
index 5213184ee2..5c669d8eb3 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/unread.js
+++ b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/unread.js
@@ -196,6 +196,19 @@ var zero_counts = {
     assert.equal(counts.private_message_count, 0);
 }());
 
+(function test_num_unread_for_person() {
+    var email = 'alice@zulip.com';
+    assert.equal(unread.num_unread_for_person(email), 0);
+
+    var message = {
+        id: 15,
+        reply_to: email,
+        type: 'private'
+    };
+    unread.process_loaded_messages([message]);
+    assert.equal(unread.num_unread_for_person(email), 1);
+}());
+
 
 (function test_mentions() {
     narrow.active = function () {