diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatUIImplementation.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatUIImplementation.java
index df6cbaff2..6580d36bf 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatUIImplementation.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatUIImplementation.java
@@ -224,10 +224,14 @@ public class FlatUIImplementation extends UIImplementation {
         callback);
   }
 
-  private void ensureMountsToViewAndBackingViewIsCreated(int reactTag) {
+  private boolean ensureMountsToViewAndBackingViewIsCreated(int reactTag) {
     FlatShadowNode node = (FlatShadowNode) resolveShadowNode(reactTag);
+    if (node.isBackingViewCreated()) {
+      return false;
+    }
     node.forceMountToView();
     mStateBuilder.ensureBackingViewIsCreated(node);
+    return true;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -249,8 +253,15 @@ public class FlatUIImplementation extends UIImplementation {
 
   @Override
   public void dispatchViewManagerCommand(int reactTag, int commandId, ReadableArray commandArgs) {
-    ensureMountsToViewAndBackingViewIsCreated(reactTag);
-    mStateBuilder.applyUpdates((FlatShadowNode) resolveShadowNode(reactTag));
+    if (ensureMountsToViewAndBackingViewIsCreated(reactTag)) {
+      // need to make sure any ui operations (UpdateViewGroup, for example, etc) have already
+      // happened before we actually dispatch the view manager command (since otherwise, the command
+      // may go to an empty shell parent without its children, which is against the specs). note
+      // that we only want to applyUpdates if the view has not yet been created so that it does
+      // get created (otherwise, we may end up changing the View's position when we're not supposed
+      // to, for example).
+      mStateBuilder.applyUpdates((FlatShadowNode) resolveShadowNode(reactTag));
+    }
     super.dispatchViewManagerCommand(reactTag, commandId, commandArgs);
   }
 
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatViewGroup.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatViewGroup.java
index 419d54699..1cc606b22 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatViewGroup.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/flat/FlatViewGroup.java
@@ -164,8 +164,6 @@ import com.facebook.react.views.view.ReactClippingViewGroupHelper;
 
   @Override
   public void dispatchDraw(Canvas canvas) {
-    super.dispatchDraw(canvas);
-
     if (mRemoveClippedSubviews) {
       for (DrawCommand drawCommand : mDrawCommands) {
         if (drawCommand instanceof DrawView) {