diff --git a/src/components/structures/IndicatorScrollbar.js b/src/components/structures/IndicatorScrollbar.js
index 76e6dfa96a78..2470f9fa117f 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/IndicatorScrollbar.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/IndicatorScrollbar.js
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ export default class IndicatorScrollbar extends React.Component {
         // scroll horizontally rather than vertically. This should only be used on components
         // with no vertical scroll opportunity.
         verticalScrollsHorizontally: PropTypes.bool,
+
+        // An object containing 2 numbers: xyThreshold and yReduction. xyThreshold is the amount
+        // of horizontal movement required in order to ignore any vertical changes in scroll, and
+        // only applies when verticalScrollsHorizontally is true. yReduction is the factor to
+        // multiply the vertical delta by when verticalScrollsHorizontally is true. The default
+        // behaviour is to have an xyThreshold of infinity and a yReduction of 0.8
+        scrollTolerances: PropTypes.object,
     };
 
     constructor(props) {
@@ -120,8 +127,20 @@ export default class IndicatorScrollbar extends React.Component {
 
     onMouseWheel = (e) => {
         if (this.props.verticalScrollsHorizontally && this._scrollElement) {
+            const xyThreshold = this.props.scrollTolerances
+                ? this.props.scrollTolerances.xyThreshold
+                : Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER;
+
+            const yReduction = this.props.scrollTolerances
+                ? this.props.scrollTolerances.yReduction
+                : 0.8;
+
+            // Don't apply vertical motion to horizontal scrolls. This is meant to eliminate
+            // trackpads causing excessive scroll motion.
+            if (e.deltaX >= xyThreshold) return;
+
             // noinspection JSSuspiciousNameCombination
-            this._scrollElement.scrollLeft += e.deltaY / 2; // divide by 2 to reduce harshness
+            this._scrollElement.scrollLeft += e.deltaY * yReduction;
         }
     };
 
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomBreadcrumbs.js b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomBreadcrumbs.js
index a45b8f257fb5..334aac756f73 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomBreadcrumbs.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomBreadcrumbs.js
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ const MAX_ROOMS = 20;
 export default class RoomBreadcrumbs extends React.Component {
     constructor(props) {
         super(props);
-        this.state = {rooms: []};
+        this.state = {
+            rooms: [],
+            scrollTolerances: SettingsStore.getValue("breadcrumb_scroll_tolerances"),
+        };
         this.onAction = this.onAction.bind(this);
         this._dispatcherRef = null;
     }
@@ -334,7 +337,8 @@ export default class RoomBreadcrumbs extends React.Component {
         });
         return (
             <IndicatorScrollbar ref="scroller" className="mx_RoomBreadcrumbs"
-                                trackHorizontalOverflow={true} verticalScrollsHorizontally={true}>
+                trackHorizontalOverflow={true} verticalScrollsHorizontally={true}
+                scrollTolerances={this.state.scrollTolerances}>
                 { avatars }
             </IndicatorScrollbar>
         );
diff --git a/src/settings/Settings.js b/src/settings/Settings.js
index 35baa718b926..aad459e15f92 100644
--- a/src/settings/Settings.js
+++ b/src/settings/Settings.js
@@ -262,6 +262,13 @@ export const SETTINGS = {
         supportedLevels: ['account'],
         default: [],
     },
+    "breadcrumb_scroll_tolerances": {
+        supportedLevels: LEVELS_DEVICE_ONLY_SETTINGS,
+        default: {
+            xyThreshold: 10,
+            yReduction: 0.2,
+        },
+    },
     "analyticsOptIn": {
         supportedLevels: LEVELS_DEVICE_ONLY_SETTINGS_WITH_CONFIG,
         displayName: _td('Send analytics data'),