diff --git a/src/mol-state/state.ts b/src/mol-state/state.ts
index 1d2b4cebefbe4f96df42271dacec03828001c0ee..70a40a53227da0b0ed091b525fae22c9e23fb5ed 100644
--- a/src/mol-state/state.ts
+++ b/src/mol-state/state.ts
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ namespace State {
             const current = cells.get(currentRef)!;
             const oldParams = oldTree.getValue(currentRef)!.params;
 
-            const updateKind = current.status === 'ok'
+            const updateKind = current.status === 'ok' || current.ref === ctx.tree.rootRef
                 ? await updateObject(ctx, currentRef, transform.transformer, parent, current.obj!, oldParams, transform.params)
                 : Transformer.UpdateResult.Recreate;