diff --git a/mozilla/mail/base/content/msgMail3PaneWindow.js b/mozilla/mail/base/content/msgMail3PaneWindow.js
index 4e1f18899a4..4c12f74d833 100644
--- a/mozilla/mail/base/content/msgMail3PaneWindow.js
+++ b/mozilla/mail/base/content/msgMail3PaneWindow.js
@@ -550,6 +550,14 @@ function HandleCompactCompleted(folder)
           viewType = dbFolderInfo.viewType;
           dbFolderInfo = null;
         }
+        
+        // before we reroot the folder, save off the currently displayed message
+        // so we can restore selection after re-rooting. For the manual compaction case,
+        // we've already saved this value off before we cleared the view and the thread pane.
+        // For the automatic folder compaction case, gDBView is still valid and we haven't 
+        // saved off gCurrentlyDisplayedMessage yet.
+        if (gCurrentlyDisplayedMessage == nsMsgViewIndex_None && gDBView)
+          gCurrentlyDisplayedMessage = gDBView.currentlyDisplayedMessage;
         RerootFolder(uri, msgFolder, viewType, viewFlags, sortType, sortOrder);
         LoadCurrentlyDisplayedMessage();
       }
diff --git a/mozilla/mail/base/content/widgetglue.js b/mozilla/mail/base/content/widgetglue.js
index f72e95407bb..dd9bb05bb7f 100644
--- a/mozilla/mail/base/content/widgetglue.js
+++ b/mozilla/mail/base/content/widgetglue.js
@@ -167,9 +167,7 @@ function MsgCompactFolder(isAll)
       if (expungedBytes > 0)
       { 
         if (gDBView)
-        {
           gCurrentlyDisplayedMessage = gDBView.currentlyDisplayedMessage;
-        }
 
         ClearThreadPaneSelection();
         ClearThreadPane();