diff --git a/acltree/acltree.go b/acltree/acltree.go
index 2a671d53..1e0e3e00 100644
--- a/acltree/acltree.go
+++ b/acltree/acltree.go
@@ -84,38 +84,54 @@ func BuildACLTree(
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	aclTree.removeOrphans()
 
 	return aclTree, nil
 }
 
 // TODO: this is not used for now, in future we should think about not making full tree rebuild
-func (a *aclTree) rebuildFromTree(validateSnapshot bool) (err error) {
-	if validateSnapshot {
-		err = a.snapshotValidator.Init(a.aclTreeFromStart)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+//func (a *aclTree) rebuildFromTree(validateSnapshot bool) (err error) {
+//	if validateSnapshot {
+//		err = a.snapshotValidator.Init(a.aclTreeFromStart)
+//		if err != nil {
+//			return err
+//		}
+//
+//		valid, err := a.snapshotValidator.ValidateSnapshot(a.fullTree.root)
+//		if err != nil {
+//			return err
+//		}
+//		if !valid {
+//			return a.rebuildFromThread(true)
+//		}
+//	}
+//
+//	err = a.aclStateBuilder.Init(a.fullTree)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return err
+//	}
+//
+//	a.aclState, err = a.aclStateBuilder.Build()
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return err
+//	}
+//
+//	return nil
+//}
 
-		valid, err := a.snapshotValidator.ValidateSnapshot(a.fullTree.root)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
+func (a *aclTree) removeOrphans() {
+	// removing attached or invalid orphans
+	var toRemove []string
+
+	for _, orphan := range a.thread.Orphans() {
+		if _, exists := a.fullTree.attached[orphan]; exists {
+			toRemove = append(toRemove, orphan)
 		}
-		if !valid {
-			return a.rebuildFromThread(true)
+		if _, exists := a.fullTree.invalidChanges[orphan]; exists {
+			toRemove = append(toRemove, orphan)
 		}
 	}
-
-	err = a.aclStateBuilder.Init(a.fullTree)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	a.aclState, err = a.aclStateBuilder.Build()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	return nil
+	a.thread.RemoveOrphans(toRemove...)
 }
 
 func (a *aclTree) rebuildFromThread(fromStart bool) error {
@@ -213,18 +229,8 @@ func (a *aclTree) AddChanges(changes ...*Change) (AddResult, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return
 		}
-		// removing attached or invalid orphans
-		var toRemove []string
-
-		for _, orphan := range a.thread.Orphans() {
-			if _, exists := a.fullTree.attached[orphan]; exists {
-				toRemove = append(toRemove, orphan)
-			}
-			if _, exists := a.fullTree.invalidChanges[orphan]; exists {
-				toRemove = append(toRemove, orphan)
-			}
-		}
-		a.thread.RemoveOrphans(toRemove...)
+		a.removeOrphans()
+		a.thread.SetHeads(a.fullTree.Heads())
 		switch mode {
 		case Append:
 			a.updateListener.Update(a)
@@ -265,6 +271,8 @@ func (a *aclTree) AddChanges(changes ...*Change) (AddResult, error) {
 			Summary:  AddResultSummaryRebuild,
 		}, nil
 	default:
+		// just rebuilding the state from start without reloading everything from thread
+		// as an optimization we could've started from current heads, but I didn't implement that
 		a.aclState, err = a.aclStateBuilder.Build()
 		if err != nil {
 			return AddResult{}, err
diff --git a/acltree/acltree_test.go b/acltree/acltree_test.go
index 7ca67c5c..163c47e2 100644
--- a/acltree/acltree_test.go
+++ b/acltree/acltree_test.go
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ func TestACLTree_UserJoinBuild(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("should Build acl ACLState without err: %v", err)
 	}
 	aclState := tree.ACLState()
-	//fmt.Println(ctx.Tree.Graph())
 	aId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["A"]
 	bId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["B"]
 	cId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["C"]
@@ -51,6 +50,55 @@ func TestACLTree_UserJoinBuild(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, changeIds, []string{"A.1.1", "A.1.2", "B.1.1", "B.1.2"})
 }
 
+func TestACLTree_UserJoinUpdate_Append(t *testing.T) {
+	thr, err := threadbuilder.NewThreadBuilderWithTestName("userjoinexampleupdate.yml")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	keychain := thr.GetKeychain()
+	accountData := &account.AccountData{
+		Identity: keychain.GetIdentity("A"),
+		SignKey:  keychain.SigningKeys["A"],
+		EncKey:   keychain.EncryptionKeys["A"],
+	}
+	listener := &mockListener{}
+	tree, err := BuildACLTree(thr, accountData, listener)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should Build acl ACLState without err: %v", err)
+	}
+	rawChanges := thr.GetUpdates("append")
+	var changes []*Change
+	for _, ch := range rawChanges {
+		newCh, err := NewFromRawChange(ch)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("should be able to create change from raw: %v", err)
+		}
+		changes = append(changes, newCh)
+	}
+
+	res, err := tree.AddChanges(changes...)
+	assert.Equal(t, res.Summary, AddResultSummaryAppend)
+
+	aclState := tree.ACLState()
+	aId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["A"]
+	bId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["B"]
+	cId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["C"]
+	dId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["D"]
+
+	assert.Equal(t, aclState.identity, aId)
+	assert.Equal(t, aclState.userStates[aId].Permissions, pb.ACLChange_Admin)
+	assert.Equal(t, aclState.userStates[bId].Permissions, pb.ACLChange_Writer)
+	assert.Equal(t, aclState.userStates[cId].Permissions, pb.ACLChange_Reader)
+	assert.Equal(t, aclState.userStates[dId].Permissions, pb.ACLChange_Writer)
+
+	var changeIds []string
+	tree.Iterate(func(c *Change) (isContinue bool) {
+		changeIds = append(changeIds, c.Id)
+		return true
+	})
+	assert.Equal(t, changeIds, []string{"A.1.1", "A.1.2", "B.1.1", "B.1.2", "B.1.3", "A.1.4"})
+}
+
 func TestACLTree_UserRemoveBuild(t *testing.T) {
 	thr, err := threadbuilder.NewThreadBuilderWithTestName("userremoveexample.yml")
 	if err != nil {
@@ -68,7 +116,6 @@ func TestACLTree_UserRemoveBuild(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("should Build acl ACLState without err: %v", err)
 	}
 	aclState := tree.ACLState()
-	//fmt.Println(ctx.Tree.Graph())
 	aId := keychain.GeneratedIdentities["A"]
 
 	assert.Equal(t, aclState.identity, aId)
@@ -99,7 +146,6 @@ func TestACLTree_UserRemoveBeforeBuild(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("should Build acl ACLState without err: %v", err)
 	}
 	aclState := tree.ACLState()
-	//fmt.Println(ctx.Tree.Graph())
 	for _, s := range []string{"A", "C", "E"} {
 		assert.Equal(t, aclState.userStates[keychain.GetIdentity(s)].Permissions, pb.ACLChange_Admin)
 	}
@@ -131,7 +177,6 @@ func TestACLTree_InvalidSnapshotBuild(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("should Build acl ACLState without err: %v", err)
 	}
 	aclState := tree.ACLState()
-	//fmt.Println(ctx.Tree.Graph())
 	for _, s := range []string{"A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F"} {
 		assert.Equal(t, aclState.userStates[keychain.GetIdentity(s)].Permissions, pb.ACLChange_Admin)
 	}
@@ -162,7 +207,6 @@ func TestACLTree_ValidSnapshotBuild(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("should Build acl ACLState without err: %v", err)
 	}
 	aclState := tree.ACLState()
-	//fmt.Println(ctx.Tree.Graph())
 	for _, s := range []string{"A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F"} {
 		assert.Equal(t, aclState.userStates[keychain.GetIdentity(s)].Permissions, pb.ACLChange_Admin)
 	}
diff --git a/testutils/yamltests/userjoinexampleupdate.yml b/testutils/yamltests/userjoinexampleupdate.yml
index cebfaf4a..0dca174a 100644
--- a/testutils/yamltests/userjoinexampleupdate.yml
+++ b/testutils/yamltests/userjoinexampleupdate.yml
@@ -123,9 +123,6 @@ updates:
             permission: writer
             encryptionKey: key.Enc.D
             encryptedReadKeys: [ key.Read.1 ]
-      changes:
-        - textAppend:
-            text: "second"
       readKey: key.Read.1
     graph:
       - id: B.1.3