diff --git a/src/RoomNotifs.js b/src/RoomNotifs.js
index 39384b5beaa..887a1e46997 100644
--- a/src/RoomNotifs.js
+++ b/src/RoomNotifs.js
@@ -35,6 +35,27 @@ function _shouldShowMentionBadge(roomNotifState) {
     return roomNotifState !== MUTE;
 }
 
+export function countRoomsWithNotif(rooms) {
+    return rooms.reduce((result, room, index) => {
+        const roomNotifState = getRoomNotifsState(room.roomId);
+        const highlight = room.getUnreadNotificationCount('highlight') > 0;
+        const notificationCount = room.getUnreadNotificationCount();
+
+        const notifBadges = notificationCount > 0 && _shouldShowNotifBadge(roomNotifState);
+        const mentionBadges = highlight && _shouldShowMentionBadge(roomNotifState);
+        const isInvite = room.hasMembershipState(MatrixClientPeg.get().credentials.userId, 'invite');
+        const badges = notifBadges || mentionBadges || isInvite;
+
+        if (badges) {
+            result.count++;
+            if (highlight) {
+                result.highlight = true;
+            }
+        }
+        return result;
+    }, {count: 0, highlight: false});
+}
+
 export function aggregateNotificationCount(rooms) {
     return rooms.reduce((result, room, index) => {
         const roomNotifState = getRoomNotifsState(room.roomId);
diff --git a/src/components/structures/MatrixChat.js b/src/components/structures/MatrixChat.js
index d0f5a7e0059..4dc5057eafc 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/MatrixChat.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/MatrixChat.js
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ import ResizeNotifier from "../../utils/ResizeNotifier";
 import { ValidatedServerConfig } from "../../utils/AutoDiscoveryUtils";
 import AutoDiscoveryUtils from "../../utils/AutoDiscoveryUtils";
 import DMRoomMap from '../../utils/DMRoomMap';
+import { countRoomsWithNotif } from '../../RoomNotifs';
 
 // Disable warnings for now: we use deprecated bluebird functions
 // and need to migrate, but they spam the console with warnings.
@@ -1749,19 +1750,7 @@ export default React.createClass({
     },
 
     updateStatusIndicator: function(state, prevState) {
-        let notifCount = 0;
-
-        const rooms = MatrixClientPeg.get().getRooms();
-        for (let i = 0; i < rooms.length; ++i) {
-            if (rooms[i].hasMembershipState(MatrixClientPeg.get().credentials.userId, 'invite')) {
-                notifCount++;
-            } else if (rooms[i].getUnreadNotificationCount()) {
-                // if we were summing unread notifs:
-                // notifCount += rooms[i].getUnreadNotificationCount();
-                // instead, we just count the number of rooms with notifs.
-                notifCount++;
-            }
-        }
+        let notifCount = countRoomsWithNotif(MatrixClientPeg.get().getRooms()).count;
 
         if (PlatformPeg.get()) {
             PlatformPeg.get().setErrorStatus(state === 'ERROR');