diff --git a/src/actions/entropy.js b/src/actions/entropy.js
index c3cdb59b7..4a067c16f 100644
--- a/src/actions/entropy.js
+++ b/src/actions/entropy.js
@@ -13,6 +13,15 @@ export const updateEntropyVisibility = debounce((dispatch, getState) => {
     !entropy.genomeMap ||
     controls.animationPlayPauseButton !== "Play"
   ) {return;}
+
+  if (!controls.panelsToDisplay.includes("entropy")) {
+    if (entropy.bars===undefined) {
+      return; // no need to dispatch another action - the state's already been invalidated
+    }
+    // clear the entropy data so we don't keep an out-of-date copy
+    return dispatch({type: types.ENTROPY_DATA, data: undefined, maxYVal: 1});
+  }
+
   const [data, maxYVal] = calcEntropyInView(tree.nodes, tree.visibility, entropy.selectedCds, entropy.showCounts);
   dispatch({type: types.ENTROPY_DATA, data, maxYVal});
 }, 500, { leading: false, trailing: true });
diff --git a/src/components/entropy/entropyD3.js b/src/components/entropy/entropyD3.js
index bd2b95a70..f05a6a5e0 100644
--- a/src/components/entropy/entropyD3.js
+++ b/src/components/entropy/entropyD3.js
@@ -470,6 +470,9 @@ EntropyChart.prototype._drawBars = function _drawBars() {
   if (!this.okToDrawBars) {return;}
   this._groups.mainBars.selectAll("*").remove();
 
+  // bars may be undefined (indicating the underlying data became stale)
+  if (!this.bars) {return;}
+
   /* Calculate bar width */
   const validXPos = this.scales.xMain.domain()[0]; // any value inside the scale's domain will do
   let barWidth = this.scales.xMain(validXPos+1) - this.scales.xMain(validXPos); // pixels between 2 nucleotides
diff --git a/src/components/entropy/index.js b/src/components/entropy/index.js
index ee1067da1..e666aa85a 100644
--- a/src/components/entropy/index.js
+++ b/src/components/entropy/index.js
@@ -12,10 +12,11 @@ import { tabGroup, tabGroupMember, tabGroupMemberSelected } from "../../globalSt
 import EntropyChart from "./entropyD3";
 import InfoPanel from "./infoPanel";
 import { changeEntropyCdsSelection, showCountsNotEntropy } from "../../actions/entropy";
+import { ENTROPY_DATA } from "../../actions/types";
 import { timerStart, timerEnd } from "../../util/perf";
 import { encodeColorByGenotype } from "../../util/getGenotype";
 import { nucleotide_gene } from "../../util/globals";
-import { getCdsByName } from "../../util/entropy";
+import { getCdsByName, calcEntropyInView } from "../../util/entropy";
 import { StyledTooltip } from "../controls/styles";
 import "../../css/entropy.css";
 
@@ -177,7 +178,21 @@ class Entropy extends React.Component {
       </div>
     );
   }
+  requestRecalculationOfBars() {
+    /* The <Entropy> component is now responsible for requesting a recalculation of the underlying entropy data
+    as this allows us to skip calculations when (e.g.) the panel is not rendered */
+    this.props.dispatch((dispatch, getState) => {
+      const { entropy, tree } = getState();
+      const [bars, maxYVal] = calcEntropyInView(tree.nodes, tree.visibility, entropy.selectedCds, entropy.showCounts);
+      dispatch({type: ENTROPY_DATA, data: bars, maxYVal});
+    });
+  }
   setUp(props) {
+    if (!props.bars) {
+      // On initial dataset load the data will not have been calculated. Requesting it will result in a
+      // props update and CWRP will render the chart
+      return this.requestRecalculationOfBars();
+    }
     const chart = new EntropyChart(
       this.d3entropy,
       props.genomeMap,