diff --git a/app/controllers/forum_topics_controller.rb b/app/controllers/forum_topics_controller.rb
index 9aef4ea80..89536b629 100644
--- a/app/controllers/forum_topics_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/forum_topics_controller.rb
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ class ForumTopicsController < ApplicationController
     params[:limit] ||= 40
 
     @forum_topics = ForumTopic.paginated_search(params)
+    @read_forum_topics = @forum_topics.read_by_user(CurrentUser.user)
+
     @forum_topics = @forum_topics.includes(:creator, :updater).load if request.format.html?
     @forum_topics = @forum_topics.includes(:creator, :original_post).load if request.format.atom?
 
diff --git a/app/helpers/forum_topics_helper.rb b/app/helpers/forum_topics_helper.rb
index 98b9ad8ed..f96eac9c9 100644
--- a/app/helpers/forum_topics_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/forum_topics_helper.rb
@@ -6,4 +6,8 @@ module ForumTopicsHelper
   def available_min_user_levels
     ForumTopic::MIN_LEVELS.select { |name, level| level <= CurrentUser.level }.to_a
   end
+
+  def new_forum_topic?(topic, read_forum_topics)
+    !read_forum_topics.map(&:id).include?(topic.id)
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/forum_topic.rb b/app/models/forum_topic.rb
index 8d35b984c..b34f28c2e 100644
--- a/app/models/forum_topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/forum_topic.rb
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ class ForumTopic < ApplicationRecord
   belongs_to :creator, class_name: "User"
   belongs_to_updater
   has_many :posts, -> {order("forum_posts.id asc")}, :class_name => "ForumPost", :foreign_key => "topic_id", :dependent => :destroy
+  has_many :forum_topic_visits
   has_many :moderation_reports, through: :posts
   has_one :original_post, -> {order("forum_posts.id asc")}, class_name: "ForumPost", foreign_key: "topic_id", inverse_of: :topic
+
   before_validation :initialize_is_deleted, :on => :create
   validates_presence_of :title
   validates_associated :original_post
@@ -55,6 +57,11 @@ class ForumTopic < ApplicationRecord
       where("min_level <= ?", CurrentUser.level)
     end
 
+    def read_by_user(user)
+      return none if user.last_forum_read_at.nil? || user.last_forum_read_at < '2000-01-01'
+      merge(user.visited_forum_topics.where("forum_topic_visits.last_read_at >= forum_topics.updated_at OR ? >= forum_topics.updated_at", user.last_forum_read_at))
+    end
+
     def sticky_first
       order(is_sticky: :desc, updated_at: :desc)
     end
@@ -89,16 +96,6 @@ class ForumTopic < ApplicationRecord
   end
 
   module VisitMethods
-    def read_by?(user = nil)
-      user ||= CurrentUser.user
-
-      if user.last_forum_read_at && updated_at <= user.last_forum_read_at
-        return true
-      end
-
-      ForumTopicVisit.where("user_id = ? and forum_topic_id = ? and last_read_at >= ?", user.id, id, updated_at).exists?
-    end
-
     def mark_as_read!(user = CurrentUser.user)
       return if user.is_anonymous?
 
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 7510ff332..f4db96924 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
   has_many :wiki_page_versions, foreign_key: :updater_id
   has_many :feedback, :class_name => "UserFeedback", :dependent => :destroy
   has_many :forum_post_votes, dependent: :destroy, foreign_key: :creator_id
+  has_many :forum_topic_visits, dependent: :destroy
+  has_many :visited_forum_topics, through: :forum_topic_visits, source: :forum_topic
   has_many :moderation_reports, as: :model
   has_many :pools, foreign_key: :creator_id
   has_many :posts, :foreign_key => "uploader_id"
diff --git a/app/views/admin/dashboards/show.html.erb b/app/views/admin/dashboards/show.html.erb
index e45999905..9adf1441c 100644
--- a/app/views/admin/dashboards/show.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/admin/dashboards/show.html.erb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
     <div class="section">
       <h2>Forum Topics</h2>
-      <%= render "forum_topics/listing", :forum_topics => @dashboard.forum_topics %>
+      <%= render "forum_topics/listing", forum_topics: @dashboard.forum_topics, read_forum_topics: @dashboard.forum_topics.read_by_user(CurrentUser.user) %>
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
diff --git a/app/views/forum_topics/_listing.html.erb b/app/views/forum_topics/_listing.html.erb
index 2a6075ee3..ce25f1b4c 100644
--- a/app/views/forum_topics/_listing.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/forum_topics/_listing.html.erb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
       <span class="sticky">Sticky:</span>
     <% end %>
 
-    <% unless topic.read_by?(CurrentUser.user) %>
+    <% if CurrentUser.is_member? && new_forum_topic?(topic, read_forum_topics) %>
       <span class="new">NEW</span>
     <% end %>
 
diff --git a/app/views/forum_topics/index.html.erb b/app/views/forum_topics/index.html.erb
index f59fd4af6..a457b13e0 100644
--- a/app/views/forum_topics/index.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/forum_topics/index.html.erb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
       <%= ForumTopic::CATEGORIES.map {|id, name| link_to_unless_current(name, forum_topics_path(:search => {:category_id => id}))}.join(", ").html_safe %>
     </p>
 
-    <%= render "listing", :forum_topics => @forum_topics %>
+    <%= render "listing", forum_topics: @forum_topics, read_forum_topics: @read_forum_topics %>
 
     <%= numbered_paginator(@forum_topics) %>
   </div>
diff --git a/test/unit/forum_topic_test.rb b/test/unit/forum_topic_test.rb
index 1dc61b35c..f4371659f 100644
--- a/test/unit/forum_topic_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/forum_topic_test.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class ForumTopicTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
       CurrentUser.ip_addr = nil
     end
 
-    context "#read_by?" do
+    context "read_by_user" do
       context "with a populated @user.last_forum_read_at" do
         setup do
           @user.update_attribute(:last_forum_read_at, Time.now)
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ class ForumTopicTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
             @topic.update_column(:updated_at, 1.day.from_now)
           end
 
-          should "return false" do
-            assert_equal(false, @topic.read_by?(@user))
+          should "return nothing" do
+            assert_equal([], ForumTopic.read_by_user(@user).map(&:id))
           end
         end
 
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ class ForumTopicTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
               FactoryBot.create(:forum_topic_visit, user: @user, forum_topic: @topic, last_read_at: 16.hours.from_now)
             end
 
-            should "return false" do
-              assert_equal(false, @topic.read_by?(@user))
+            should "return nothing" do
+              assert_equal([], ForumTopic.read_by_user(@user).map(&:id))
             end
           end
 
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ class ForumTopicTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
               FactoryBot.create(:forum_topic_visit, user: @user, forum_topic: @topic, last_read_at: 2.days.from_now)
             end
 
-            should "return true" do
-              assert_equal(true, @topic.read_by?(@user))
+            should "return the topic" do
+              assert_equal([@topic.id], ForumTopic.read_by_user(@user).map(&:id))
             end
           end
         end
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ class ForumTopicTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
 
       context "with a blank @user.last_forum_read_at" do
         context "and no visits" do
-          should "return false" do
-            assert_equal(false, @topic.read_by?(@user))
+          should "return nothing" do
+            assert_equal([], ForumTopic.read_by_user(@user).map(&:id))
           end
         end
 
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ class ForumTopicTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
               FactoryBot.create(:forum_topic_visit, user: @user, forum_topic: @topic, last_read_at: 1.day.ago)
             end
 
-            should "return false" do
-              assert_equal(false, @topic.read_by?(@user))
+            should "return nothing" do
+              assert_equal([], ForumTopic.read_by_user(@user).map(&:id))
             end
           end
 
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ class ForumTopicTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
               FactoryBot.create(:forum_topic_visit, user: @user, forum_topic: @topic, last_read_at: 1.day.from_now)
             end
 
-            should "return true" do
-              assert_equal(true, @topic.read_by?(@user))
+            should "return nothing" do
+              assert_equal([], ForumTopic.read_by_user(@user).map(&:id))
             end
           end
         end