diff --git a/pkg/gui/context/list_context_trait.go b/pkg/gui/context/list_context_trait.go
index 5dd9b50e0..e001bd3a7 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/context/list_context_trait.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/context/list_context_trait.go
@@ -13,8 +13,15 @@ type ListContextTrait struct {
 	c                 *ContextCommon
 	list              types.IList
 	getDisplayStrings func(startIdx int, length int) [][]string
-	// alignment for each column. If nil, the default is left alignment
+	// Alignment for each column. If nil, the default is left alignment
 	columnAlignments []utils.Alignment
+	// Some contexts, like the commit context, will highlight the path from the selected commit
+	// to its parents, because it's ambiguous otherwise. For these, we need to refresh the viewport
+	// so that we show the highlighted path.
+	// TODO: now that we allow scrolling, we should be smarter about what gets refreshed:
+	// we should find out exactly which lines are now part of the path and refresh those.
+	// We should also keep track of the previous path and refresh those lines too.
+	refreshViewportOnLineFocus bool
 }
 
 func (self *ListContextTrait) IsListContext() {}
@@ -24,9 +31,19 @@ func (self *ListContextTrait) GetList() types.IList {
 }
 
 func (self *ListContextTrait) FocusLine() {
-	// we need a way of knowing whether we've rendered to the view yet.
 	self.GetViewTrait().FocusPoint(self.list.GetSelectedLineIdx())
 	self.setFooter()
+
+	if self.refreshViewportOnLineFocus {
+		self.refreshViewport()
+	}
+}
+
+func (self *ListContextTrait) refreshViewport() {
+	startIdx, length := self.GetViewTrait().ViewPortYBounds()
+	displayStrings := self.getDisplayStrings(startIdx, length)
+	content := utils.RenderDisplayStrings(displayStrings, nil)
+	self.GetViewTrait().SetViewPortContent(content)
 }
 
 func (self *ListContextTrait) setFooter() {
diff --git a/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go b/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go
index e8ae0b6c5..efd175f98 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 type LocalCommitsContext struct {
 	*LocalCommitsViewModel
-	*ViewportListContextTrait
+	*ListContextTrait
 }
 
 var (
@@ -56,19 +56,18 @@ func NewLocalCommitsContext(c *ContextCommon) *LocalCommitsContext {
 
 	return &LocalCommitsContext{
 		LocalCommitsViewModel: viewModel,
-		ViewportListContextTrait: &ViewportListContextTrait{
-			ListContextTrait: &ListContextTrait{
-				Context: NewSimpleContext(NewBaseContext(NewBaseContextOpts{
-					View:       c.Views().Commits,
-					WindowName: "commits",
-					Key:        LOCAL_COMMITS_CONTEXT_KEY,
-					Kind:       types.SIDE_CONTEXT,
-					Focusable:  true,
-				})),
-				list:              viewModel,
-				getDisplayStrings: getDisplayStrings,
-				c:                 c,
-			},
+		ListContextTrait: &ListContextTrait{
+			Context: NewSimpleContext(NewBaseContext(NewBaseContextOpts{
+				View:       c.Views().Commits,
+				WindowName: "commits",
+				Key:        LOCAL_COMMITS_CONTEXT_KEY,
+				Kind:       types.SIDE_CONTEXT,
+				Focusable:  true,
+			})),
+			list:                       viewModel,
+			getDisplayStrings:          getDisplayStrings,
+			c:                          c,
+			refreshViewportOnLineFocus: true,
 		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/gui/context/sub_commits_context.go b/pkg/gui/context/sub_commits_context.go
index 16712f982..a4d4205d1 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/context/sub_commits_context.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/context/sub_commits_context.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 type SubCommitsContext struct {
 	*SubCommitsViewModel
-	*ViewportListContextTrait
+	*ListContextTrait
 	*DynamicTitleBuilder
 }
 
@@ -60,20 +60,19 @@ func NewSubCommitsContext(
 	return &SubCommitsContext{
 		SubCommitsViewModel: viewModel,
 		DynamicTitleBuilder: NewDynamicTitleBuilder(c.Tr.SubCommitsDynamicTitle),
-		ViewportListContextTrait: &ViewportListContextTrait{
-			ListContextTrait: &ListContextTrait{
-				Context: NewSimpleContext(NewBaseContext(NewBaseContextOpts{
-					View:       c.Views().SubCommits,
-					WindowName: "branches",
-					Key:        SUB_COMMITS_CONTEXT_KEY,
-					Kind:       types.SIDE_CONTEXT,
-					Focusable:  true,
-					Transient:  true,
-				})),
-				list:              viewModel,
-				getDisplayStrings: getDisplayStrings,
-				c:                 c,
-			},
+		ListContextTrait: &ListContextTrait{
+			Context: NewSimpleContext(NewBaseContext(NewBaseContextOpts{
+				View:       c.Views().SubCommits,
+				WindowName: "branches",
+				Key:        SUB_COMMITS_CONTEXT_KEY,
+				Kind:       types.SIDE_CONTEXT,
+				Focusable:  true,
+				Transient:  true,
+			})),
+			list:                       viewModel,
+			getDisplayStrings:          getDisplayStrings,
+			c:                          c,
+			refreshViewportOnLineFocus: true,
 		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/gui/context/viewport_list_context_trait.go b/pkg/gui/context/viewport_list_context_trait.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 120e9f967..000000000
--- a/pkg/gui/context/viewport_list_context_trait.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-package context
-
-import (
-	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/utils"
-)
-
-// This embeds a list context trait and adds logic to re-render the viewport
-// whenever a line is focused. We use this in the commits panel because different
-// sections of the log graph need to be highlighted depending on the currently selected line
-
-type ViewportListContextTrait struct {
-	*ListContextTrait
-}
-
-func (self *ViewportListContextTrait) FocusLine() {
-	self.ListContextTrait.FocusLine()
-
-	startIdx, length := self.GetViewTrait().ViewPortYBounds()
-	displayStrings := self.ListContextTrait.getDisplayStrings(startIdx, length)
-	content := utils.RenderDisplayStrings(displayStrings, nil)
-	self.GetViewTrait().SetViewPortContent(content)
-}