diff --git a/plotly/widgets/graphWidget.js b/plotly/widgets/graphWidget.js
index 284182134bb..eb1ccbc0eb5 100644
--- a/plotly/widgets/graphWidget.js
+++ b/plotly/widgets/graphWidget.js
@@ -87,12 +87,23 @@ require(["widgets/js/widget"], function(WidgetManager){
 
         update: function() {
             // Listen for messages from the graph widget in python
-            var message = this.model.get('_message');
+            var jmessage = this.model.get('_message');
 
-            message = JSON.parse(message);
+            var message = JSON.parse(jmessage);
 
-            var plot = $('#'+message.graphId)[0].contentWindow;
-            plot.postMessage(message, message.plotlyDomain);
+            // check for duplicate messages
+            if(!('messageIds' in window)){
+                window.messageIds = {};
+                window.messageIds[message.uid] = true;
+            }
+
+            if(!(message.uid in window.messageIds)){
+                // message hasn't been received yet, do stuff
+                window.messageIds[message.uid] = true;
+
+                var plot = $('#'+message.graphId)[0].contentWindow;
+                plot.postMessage(message, message.plotlyDomain);
+            }
 
             return GraphView.__super__.update.apply(this);
         }
diff --git a/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py b/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py
index 0605e08b1cf..823d64663e2 100644
--- a/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py
+++ b/plotly/widgets/graph_widget.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from collections import deque
 import json
 import os
+import uuid
 
 # TODO: protected imports?
 from IPython.html import widgets
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ def _handle_outgoing_message(self, message):
             self._clientMessages.append(message)
         else:
             message['graphId'] = self._graphId
+            message['uid'] = str(uuid.uuid4())
             self._message = json.dumps(message)
 
     def on_click(self, callback, remove=False):