diff --git a/static/js/message_store.js b/static/js/message_store.js
index bef6a12326..278b38b961 100644
--- a/static/js/message_store.js
+++ b/static/js/message_store.js
@@ -479,6 +479,10 @@ exports.load_more_messages = function load_more_messages(msg_list) {
     });
 };
 
+exports.clear = function clear() {
+    this.stored_messages = {};
+};
+
 $(function () {
     // get the initial message list
     function load_more(messages) {
diff --git a/static/js/reload.js b/static/js/reload.js
index 8446df2b24..5dc92f81b5 100644
--- a/static/js/reload.js
+++ b/static/js/reload.js
@@ -101,6 +101,14 @@ $(function () {
     hashchange.changehash(vars.oldhash);
 });
 
+function clear_message_list(msg_list) {
+    if (!msg_list) { return; }
+    msg_list.clear();
+    // Some pending ajax calls may still be processed and they to not expect an
+    // empty msg_list.
+    msg_list._items = [{id: 1}];
+}
+
 function do_reload_app(send_after_reload, save_state, message) {
     // TODO: we should completely disable the UI here
     if (save_state) {
@@ -112,7 +120,29 @@ function do_reload_app(send_after_reload, save_state, message) {
     }
     // TODO: We need a better API for showing messages.
     ui.report_message(message, $("#reloading-application"));
+    blueslip.log('Starting server requested page reload');
     reload_in_progress = true;
+    try {
+        // Unbind all the jQuery event listeners
+        $('*').off();
+
+        // Free all of the DOM
+        $("html").empty();
+
+        // Now that the DOM is empty our beforeunload callback has been
+        // removed.
+        server_events.cleanup_event_queue();
+
+        // Empty the large collections
+        clear_message_list(all_msg_list);
+        clear_message_list(home_msg_list);
+        clear_message_list(narrowed_msg_list);
+        message_store.clear();
+
+    } catch (ex) {
+        blueslip.error('Failed to cleanup before reloading',
+                       undefined, ex.stack);
+    }
     window.location.reload(true);
 }
 
diff --git a/static/js/server_events.js b/static/js/server_events.js
index 25ff6f6851..a3a957cdc0 100644
--- a/static/js/server_events.js
+++ b/static/js/server_events.js
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ $(function () {
     get_events();
 });
 
-function cleanup_event_queue() {
+exports.cleanup_event_queue = function cleanup_event_queue() {
     // Submit a request to the server to cleanup our event queue
     if (page_params.event_queue_expired === true) {
         return;
@@ -336,10 +336,10 @@ function cleanup_event_queue() {
         url:      '/json/events',
         data:     {queue_id: page_params.event_queue_id}
     });
-}
+};
 
 window.addEventListener("beforeunload", function (event) {
-    cleanup_event_queue();
+    exports.cleanup_event_queue();
 });