diff --git a/Libraries/Lists/VirtualizedList.js b/Libraries/Lists/VirtualizedList.js
index 56364823f06d49..fd72655a170ab0 100644
--- a/Libraries/Lists/VirtualizedList.js
+++ b/Libraries/Lists/VirtualizedList.js
@@ -234,6 +234,65 @@ type ChildListState = {
 
 type State = {first: number, last: number};
 
+/**
+ * Performs equality by iterating through keys on an object and returning false
+ * when any key has values which are not strictly equal between the arguments.
+ * Returns true when the values of all keys are strictly equal.
+ */
+function shallowEqual(objA: Object, objB: Object, exceptions = []) {
+  if (is(objA, objB)) {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  if (
+    typeof objA !== 'object' ||
+    objA === null ||
+    typeof objB !== 'object' ||
+    objB === null
+  ) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  var keysA = Object.keys(objA);
+  var keysB = Object.keys(objB);
+
+  if (keysA.length !== keysB.length) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // Test for A's keys different from B.
+  for (let i = 0; i < keysA.length; i++) {
+    if (exceptions.findIndex(ex => ex === keysA[i]) !== -1) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (
+      !hasOwnProperty.call(objB, keysA[i]) ||
+      !is(objA[keysA[i]], objB[keysA[i]])
+    ) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return true;
+}
+
+/**
+ * inlined Object.is polyfill to avoid requiring consumers ship their own
+ * https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/is
+ */
+function is(x, y) {
+  // SameValue algorithm
+  if (x === y) {
+    // Steps 1-5, 7-10
+    // Steps 6.b-6.e: +0 != -0
+    // Added the nonzero y check to make Flow happy, but it is redundant
+    return x !== 0 || y !== 0 || 1 / x === 1 / y;
+  } else {
+    // Step 6.a: NaN == NaN
+    return x !== x && y !== y;
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Base implementation for the more convenient [`<FlatList>`](/react-native/docs/flatlist.html)
  * and [`<SectionList>`](/react-native/docs/sectionlist.html) components, which are also better
@@ -675,6 +734,12 @@ class VirtualizedList extends React.PureComponent<Props, State> {
       if (stickyIndicesFromProps.has(ii + stickyOffset)) {
         stickyHeaderIndices.push(cells.length);
       }
+      // remove all components from parentProps so that these components don't cause the CellRenderer to re-render.
+      const parentProps: Props = {...this.props};
+      delete parentProps.ItemSeparatorComponent;
+      delete parentProps.ListEmptyComponent;
+      delete parentProps.ListFooterComponent;
+      delete parentProps.ListHeaderComponent;
       cells.push(
         <CellRenderer
           CellRendererComponent={CellRendererComponent}
@@ -688,9 +753,9 @@ class VirtualizedList extends React.PureComponent<Props, State> {
           key={key}
           prevCellKey={prevCellKey}
           onUpdateSeparators={this._onUpdateSeparators}
-          onLayout={e => this._onCellLayout(e, key, ii)}
+          onLayout={this._onCellLayout}
           onUnmount={this._onCellUnmount}
-          parentProps={this.props}
+          parentProps={parentProps}
           ref={ref => {
             this._cellRefs[key] = ref;
           }}
@@ -1046,7 +1111,7 @@ class VirtualizedList extends React.PureComponent<Props, State> {
     }
   };
 
-  _onCellLayout(e, cellKey, index) {
+  _onCellLayout = (e, cellKey, index): void => {
     const layout = e.nativeEvent.layout;
     const next = {
       offset: this._selectOffset(layout),
@@ -1086,7 +1151,7 @@ class VirtualizedList extends React.PureComponent<Props, State> {
     }
 
     this._computeBlankness();
-  }
+  };
 
   _onCellUnmount = (cellKey: string) => {
     const curr = this._frames[cellKey];
@@ -1604,7 +1669,7 @@ class CellRenderer extends React.Component<
     index: number,
     inversionStyle: ?DangerouslyImpreciseStyleProp,
     item: Item,
-    onLayout: (event: Object) => void, // This is extracted by ScrollViewStickyHeader
+    onLayout: (event: Object, key: string, index: number) => void, // This is extracted by ScrollViewStickyHeader
     onUnmount: (cellKey: string) => void,
     onUpdateSeparators: (cellKeys: Array<?string>, props: Object) => void,
     parentProps: {
@@ -1670,6 +1735,20 @@ class CellRenderer extends React.Component<
     this.props.onUnmount(this.props.cellKey);
   }
 
+  _onLayout = (e): void =>
+    this.props.onLayout &&
+    this.props.onLayout(e, this.props.cellKey, this.props.index);
+
+  shouldComponentUpdate(nextProps, nextState) {
+    if (!shallowEqual(this.props, nextProps, ['parentProps'])) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    if (!shallowEqual(this.props.parentProps, nextProps.parentProps)) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    return !shallowEqual(this.state, nextState);
+  }
+
   render() {
     const {
       CellRendererComponent,
@@ -1694,7 +1773,7 @@ class CellRenderer extends React.Component<
        * comment and run Flow. */
       getItemLayout && !parentProps.debug && !fillRateHelper.enabled()
         ? undefined
-        : this.props.onLayout;
+        : this._onLayout;
     // NOTE: that when this is a sticky header, `onLayout` will get automatically extracted and
     // called explicitly by `ScrollViewStickyHeader`.
     const itemSeparator = ItemSeparatorComponent && (
diff --git a/Libraries/Lists/__tests__/VirtualizedList-test.js b/Libraries/Lists/__tests__/VirtualizedList-test.js
index 14aec9140f1195..1b94791cd11d3d 100644
--- a/Libraries/Lists/__tests__/VirtualizedList-test.js
+++ b/Libraries/Lists/__tests__/VirtualizedList-test.js
@@ -218,4 +218,33 @@ describe('VirtualizedList', () => {
       }),
     );
   });
+
+  it('calls _onCellLayout properly', () => {
+    const items = [{key: 'i1'}, {key: 'i2'}, {key: 'i3'}];
+    const mock = jest.fn();
+    const component = ReactTestRenderer.create(
+      <VirtualizedList
+        data={items}
+        renderItem={({item}) => <item value={item.key} />}
+        getItem={(data, index) => data[index]}
+        getItemCount={data => data.length}
+      />,
+    );
+    const virtualList: VirtualizedList = component.getInstance();
+    virtualList._onCellLayout = mock;
+    component.update(
+      <VirtualizedList
+        data={[...items, {key: 'i4'}]}
+        renderItem={({item}) => <item value={item.key} />}
+        getItem={(data, index) => data[index]}
+        getItemCount={data => data.length}
+      />,
+    );
+    const cell = virtualList._cellRefs['i4'];
+    const event = {
+      nativeEvent: {layout: {x: 0, y: 0, width: 50, height: 50}},
+    };
+    cell._onLayout(event);
+    expect(mock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(event, 'i4', 3);
+  });
 });