diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/example7.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/example7.js
index 4c510660f4..0f26b1bfed 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/example7.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/example7.js
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ const message_list = mock_esm("../../static/js/message_list");
 const message_lists = mock_esm("../../static/js/message_lists");
 const message_viewport = mock_esm("../../static/js/message_viewport");
 const notifications = mock_esm("../../static/js/notifications");
-const overlays = mock_esm("../../static/js/overlays");
 const unread_ui = mock_esm("../../static/js/unread_ui");
 
 message_lists.current = {};
@@ -90,14 +89,17 @@ run_test("unread_ops", (override) => {
         },
     ];
 
+    // We don't want recent topics to process message for this test.
     override(recent_topics, "is_visible", () => false);
+    // Show message_viewport as not visible so that messages will be stored as unread.
+    override(message_viewport, "is_visible_and_focused", () => false);
 
     // Make our test message appear to be unread, so that
     // we then need to subsequently process them as read.
     unread.process_loaded_messages(test_messages);
 
-    // Make our window appear visible.
-    override(notifications, "is_window_focused", () => true);
+    // Make our message_viewport appear visible.
+    override(message_viewport, "is_visible_and_focused", () => true);
 
     // Make our "test" message appear visible.
     override(message_viewport, "bottom_message_visible", () => true);
@@ -119,9 +121,6 @@ run_test("unread_ops", (override) => {
         channel_post_opts = opts;
     });
 
-    // Let the real code skip over details related to active overlays.
-    override(overlays, "is_active", () => false);
-
     let can_mark_messages_read;
 
     // Set up an override to point to the above var, so we can
diff --git a/static/js/message_viewport.js b/static/js/message_viewport.js
index 8707c208cf..c2b539b953 100644
--- a/static/js/message_viewport.js
+++ b/static/js/message_viewport.js
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import * as blueslip from "./blueslip";
 import {media_breakpoints_num} from "./css_variables";
 import * as message_lists from "./message_lists";
 import * as message_scroll from "./message_scroll";
+import * as notifications from "./notifications";
+import * as overlays from "./overlays";
 import * as rows from "./rows";
 import * as util from "./util";
 
@@ -473,3 +475,14 @@ export function initialize() {
         stop_auto_scrolling();
     });
 }
+
+export function is_visible_and_focused() {
+    if (
+        overlays.is_active() ||
+        !notifications.is_window_focused() ||
+        !$("#message_feed_container").is(":visible")
+    ) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+}
diff --git a/static/js/unread_ops.js b/static/js/unread_ops.js
index e973849f3d..67a09de331 100644
--- a/static/js/unread_ops.js
+++ b/static/js/unread_ops.js
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import * as message_lists from "./message_lists";
 import * as message_store from "./message_store";
 import * as message_viewport from "./message_viewport";
 import * as notifications from "./notifications";
-import * as overlays from "./overlays";
 import * as recent_topics from "./recent_topics";
 import * as reload from "./reload";
 import * as unread from "./unread";
@@ -104,11 +103,8 @@ export function notify_server_message_read(message, options) {
 // If we ever materially change the algorithm for this function, we
 // may need to update notifications.received_messages as well.
 export function process_visible() {
-    if (overlays.is_active() || !notifications.is_window_focused()) {
-        return;
-    }
-
     if (
+        message_viewport.is_visible_and_focused() &&
         message_viewport.bottom_message_visible() &&
         message_lists.current.can_mark_messages_read()
     ) {