diff --git a/modules/CommentItem.js b/modules/CommentItem.js
index b12a12763..c5f76e70c 100644
--- a/modules/CommentItem.js
+++ b/modules/CommentItem.js
@@ -42,6 +42,17 @@ CommentItem.prototype.getHeading = function () {
 	return parent;
 };
 
+/**
+ * @return {HeadingItem|null} losest heading that can be used for topic subscriptions
+ */
+CommentItem.prototype.getSubscribableHeading = function () {
+	var heading = this.getHeading();
+	while ( heading && heading.type === 'heading' && !heading.isSubscribable() ) {
+		heading = heading.parent;
+	}
+	return ( heading && heading.type === 'heading' ) ? heading : null;
+};
+
 // TODO: Implement getBodyRange/getBodyHTML/getBodyText/getMentions if required
 
 module.exports = CommentItem;
diff --git a/modules/HeadingItem.js b/modules/HeadingItem.js
index 03aff5a39..d84a95811 100644
--- a/modules/HeadingItem.js
+++ b/modules/HeadingItem.js
@@ -45,4 +45,22 @@ HeadingItem.prototype.getHeading = function () {
 	return this;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Check whether this heading can be used for topic subscriptions.
+ *
+ * @return {boolean}
+ */
+HeadingItem.prototype.isSubscribable = function () {
+	return (
+		// Placeholder headings have nothing to attach the button to.
+		!this.placeholderHeading &&
+		// We only allow subscribing to level 2 headings, because the user interface for sub-headings
+		// would be difficult to present.
+		this.headingLevel === 2 &&
+		// Check if the name corresponds to a section that contain no comments (only sub-sections).
+		// They can't be distinguished from each other, so disallow subscribing.
+		this.name !== 'h-'
+	);
+};
+
 module.exports = HeadingItem;
diff --git a/modules/controller.js b/modules/controller.js
index bc297b5a7..8fd7f8a53 100644
--- a/modules/controller.js
+++ b/modules/controller.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ var
 	storage = mw.storage.session,
 	Parser = require( './Parser.js' ),
 	ThreadItem = require( './ThreadItem.js' ),
-	HeadingItem = require( './HeadingItem.js' ),
 	CommentItem = require( './CommentItem.js' ),
 	CommentDetails = require( './CommentDetails.js' ),
 	ReplyLinksController = require( './ReplyLinksController.js' ),
@@ -862,14 +861,13 @@ function init( $container, state ) {
 					}
 				}
 			}
-			for ( i = 0; i < recentComments.length; i++ ) {
-				var headingItem = recentComments[ i ].getHeading();
-				while ( headingItem instanceof HeadingItem && headingItem.headingLevel !== 2 ) {
-					headingItem = headingItem.parent;
+			recentComments.forEach( function ( recentComment ) {
+				var headingItem = recentComment.getSubscribableHeading();
+				if ( headingItem ) {
+					// Use names as object keys to deduplicate if there are multiple comments in a topic.
+					headingsToUpdate[ headingItem.name ] = headingItem;
 				}
-				// Use names as object keys to deduplicate if there are multiple comments in a topic.
-				headingsToUpdate[ headingItem.name ] = headingItem;
-			}
+			} );
 			updateSubscriptionStates( $container, headingsToUpdate );
 		}
 	} );