diff --git a/common/static/common/js/discussion/views/discussion_thread_list_view.js b/common/static/common/js/discussion/views/discussion_thread_list_view.js
index ef9cf793a2..e34025c5a3 100644
--- a/common/static/common/js/discussion/views/discussion_thread_list_view.js
+++ b/common/static/common/js/discussion/views/discussion_thread_list_view.js
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@
                 this.courseSettings = options.courseSettings;
                 this.hideRefineBar = options.hideRefineBar;
                 this.supportsActiveThread = options.supportsActiveThread;
+                this.profilePage = options.profilePage || false;
                 this.displayedCollection = new Discussion(this.collection.models, {
                     pages: this.collection.pages
                 });
@@ -335,7 +336,14 @@
             DiscussionThreadListView.prototype.renderThread = function(thread) {
                 var threadCommentCount = thread.get('comments_count'),
                     threadUnreadCommentCount = thread.get('unread_comments_count'),
-                    neverRead = !thread.get('read') && threadUnreadCommentCount === threadCommentCount,
+                    // @TODO: On the profile page, thread read state for the viewing user is not accessible via the API.
+                    // In this case, neverRead is set to false regardless of read state returned by the API.
+                    // Fix this when the Discussions API can support this query.
+                    neverRead = (
+                        !thread.get('read') &&
+                        threadUnreadCommentCount === threadCommentCount &&
+                        !this.profilePage
+                    ),
                     threadPreview = this.containsMarkup(thread.get('body')) ? '' : thread.get('body'),
                     context = _.extend(
                         {
@@ -344,7 +352,8 @@
                             threadPreview: threadPreview,
                             showThreadPreview: this.showThreadPreview
                         },
-                        thread.toJSON()
+                        thread.toJSON(),
+                        this.profilePage ? {unread_comments_count: 0} : {}  // See comment above about profile page
                     );
                 return $(this.threadListItemTemplate(context).toString());
             };
diff --git a/common/static/common/js/spec/discussion/view/discussion_thread_list_view_spec.js b/common/static/common/js/spec/discussion/view/discussion_thread_list_view_spec.js
index 50f5048ab8..c2aa40328e 100644
--- a/common/static/common/js/spec/discussion/view/discussion_thread_list_view_spec.js
+++ b/common/static/common/js/spec/discussion/view/discussion_thread_list_view_spec.js
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@
             });
             return this.view.render();
         });
+
         setupAjax = function(callback) {
             return $.ajax.and.callFake(function(params) {
                 if (callback) {
@@ -185,19 +186,27 @@
                 };
             });
         };
+
         renderSingleThreadWithProps = function(props) {
             return makeView(new Discussion([new Thread(DiscussionViewSpecHelper.makeThreadWithProps(props))])).render();
         };
-        makeView = function(discussion) {
-            return new DiscussionThreadListView({
-                el: $('#fixture-element'),
-                collection: discussion,
-                showThreadPreview: true,
-                courseSettings: new DiscussionCourseSettings({
-                    is_cohorted: true
-                })
-            });
+
+        makeView = function(discussion, props) {
+            return new DiscussionThreadListView(
+                _.extend(
+                    {
+                        el: $('#fixture-element'),
+                        collection: discussion,
+                        showThreadPreview: true,
+                        courseSettings: new DiscussionCourseSettings({
+                            is_cohorted: true
+                        })
+                    },
+                    props
+                )
+            );
         };
+
         expectFilter = function(filterVal) {
             return $.ajax.and.callFake(function(params) {
                 _.each(['unread', 'unanswered', 'flagged'], function(paramName) {
@@ -681,5 +690,47 @@
                 expect(view.$el.find('.thread-preview-body').length).toEqual(0);
             });
         });
+
+        describe('read/unread state', function() {
+            it('adds never-read class to unread threads', function() {
+                var unreads = this.threads.filter(function(thread) {
+                    return !thread.read && thread.unread_comments_count === thread.comments_count;
+                }).length;
+
+                this.view = makeView(new Discussion(this.threads));
+                this.view.render();
+                expect(this.view.$('.never-read').length).toEqual(unreads);
+            });
+
+            it('shows a "x new" message for threads that are read, but have unread comments', function() {
+                var unreadThread = this.threads.filter(function(thread) {
+                        return thread.read && thread.unread_comments_count !== thread.comments_count;
+                    })[0],
+                    newCommentsOnUnreadThread = unreadThread.unread_comments_count;
+
+                this.view = makeView(new Discussion(this.threads));
+                this.view.render();
+                expect(
+                    this.view.$('.forum-nav-thread-unread-comments-count')
+                        .first()
+                        .text()
+                        .trim()
+                ).toEqual(newCommentsOnUnreadThread + ' new');
+            });
+
+            it('should display every thread as read if profilePage is passed to the constructor', function() {
+                // @TODO: This is temporary, see comment in DiscussionThreadListView.prototype.renderThread
+                this.view = makeView(new Discussion(this.threads), {profilePage: true});
+                this.view.render();
+                expect(this.view.$('.never-read').length).toEqual(0);
+            });
+
+            it('does not show the "x new" indicator for any thread if profilePage is passed', function() {
+                // @TODO: This is temporary, see comment in DiscussionThreadListView.prototype.renderThread
+                this.view = makeView(new Discussion(this.threads), {profilePage: true});
+                this.view.render();
+                expect(this.view.$('.forum-nav-thread-unread-comments-count').length).toEqual(0);
+            });
+        });
     });
 }).call(this);
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/static/discussion/js/views/discussion_user_profile_view.js b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/static/discussion/js/views/discussion_user_profile_view.js
index 7c3e199ecd..f9c7de0175 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/static/discussion/js/views/discussion_user_profile_view.js
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/static/discussion/js/views/discussion_user_profile_view.js
@@ -39,7 +39,10 @@
                         collection: this.discussion,
                         el: this.$('.inline-threads'),
                         courseSettings: this.courseSettings,
-                        hideRefineBar: true  // TODO: re-enable the search/filter bar when it works correctly
+                        hideRefineBar: true,  // TODO: re-enable the search/filter bar when it works correctly
+                        // TODO: remove. Used temporarily to disable read state on profile page. See comment in
+                        // discussion_thread_list_view.js / DiscussionThreadListView.prototype.renderThread
+                        profilePage: true
                     }).render();
 
                     this.discussionThreadListView.on('thread:selected', _.bind(this.navigateToThread, this));