diff --git a/app/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service.rb b/app/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service.rb
index 6dc14d8c2a1..3d9d9cb8462 100644
--- a/app/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service.rb
@@ -17,10 +17,19 @@ class ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService < BaseService
     # Only native types can be updated at the moment
     return @status if !expected_type? || already_updated_more_recently?
 
-    last_edit_date = status.edited_at.presence || status.created_at
+    if @status_parser.edited_at.present? && (@status.edited_at.nil? || @status_parser.edited_at > @status.edited_at)
+      handle_explicit_update!
+    else
+      handle_implicit_update!
+    end
 
-    # Since we rely on tracking of previous changes, ensure clean slate
-    status.clear_changes_information
+    @status
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  def handle_explicit_update!
+    last_edit_date = @status.edited_at.presence || @status.created_at
 
     # Only allow processing one create/update per status at a time
     RedisLock.acquire(lock_options) do |lock|
@@ -45,12 +54,20 @@ class ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService < BaseService
       end
     end
 
-    forward_activity! if significant_changes? && @status_parser.edited_at.present? && @status_parser.edited_at > last_edit_date
-
-    @status
+    forward_activity! if significant_changes? && @status_parser.edited_at > last_edit_date
   end
 
-  private
+  def handle_implicit_update!
+    RedisLock.acquire(lock_options) do |lock|
+      if lock.acquired?
+        update_poll!(allow_significant_changes: false)
+      else
+        raise Mastodon::RaceConditionError
+      end
+    end
+
+    queue_poll_notifications!
+  end
 
   def update_media_attachments!
     previous_media_attachments     = @status.media_attachments.to_a
@@ -98,7 +115,7 @@ class ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService < BaseService
     @media_attachments_changed = true if @status.ordered_media_attachment_ids != previous_media_attachments_ids
   end
 
-  def update_poll!
+  def update_poll!(allow_significant_changes: true)
     previous_poll        = @status.preloadable_poll
     @previous_expires_at = previous_poll&.expires_at
     poll_parser          = ActivityPub::Parser::PollParser.new(@json)
@@ -109,6 +126,7 @@ class ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService < BaseService
       # If for some reasons the options were changed, it invalidates all previous
       # votes, so we need to remove them
       @poll_changed = true if poll_parser.significantly_changes?(poll)
+      return if @poll_changed && !allow_significant_changes
 
       poll.last_fetched_at = Time.now.utc
       poll.options         = poll_parser.options
@@ -121,6 +139,8 @@ class ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService < BaseService
 
       @status.poll_id = poll.id
     elsif previous_poll.present?
+      return unless allow_significant_changes
+
       previous_poll.destroy!
       @poll_changed = true
       @status.poll_id = nil
@@ -132,7 +152,10 @@ class ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService < BaseService
     @status.spoiler_text = @status_parser.spoiler_text || ''
     @status.sensitive    = @account.sensitized? || @status_parser.sensitive || false
     @status.language     = @status_parser.language
-    @status.edited_at    = @status_parser.edited_at || Time.now.utc if significant_changes?
+
+    @significant_changes = text_significantly_changed? || @status.spoiler_text_changed? || @media_attachments_changed || @poll_changed
+
+    @status.edited_at = @status_parser.edited_at if significant_changes?
 
     @status.save!
   end
@@ -243,7 +266,14 @@ class ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService < BaseService
   end
 
   def significant_changes?
-    @status.text_changed? || @status.text_previously_changed? || @status.spoiler_text_changed? || @status.spoiler_text_previously_changed? || @media_attachments_changed || @poll_changed
+    @significant_changes
+  end
+
+  def text_significantly_changed?
+    return false unless @status.text_changed?
+
+    old, new = @status.text_change
+    HtmlAwareFormatter.new(old, false).to_s != HtmlAwareFormatter.new(new, false).to_s
   end
 
   def already_updated_more_recently?
diff --git a/spec/services/activitypub/fetch_remote_status_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/activitypub/fetch_remote_status_service_spec.rb
index 68816e55476..943cb161d78 100644
--- a/spec/services/activitypub/fetch_remote_status_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/activitypub/fetch_remote_status_service_spec.rb
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ RSpec.describe ActivityPub::FetchRemoteStatusService, type: :service do
       let(:existing_status) { Fabricate(:status, account: sender, text: 'Foo', uri: note[:id]) }
 
       context 'with a Note object' do
-        let(:object) { note }
+        let(:object) { note.merge(updated: '2021-09-08T22:39:25Z') }
 
         it 'updates status' do
           existing_status.reload
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ RSpec.describe ActivityPub::FetchRemoteStatusService, type: :service do
             id: "https://#{valid_domain}/@foo/1234/create",
             type: 'Create',
             actor: ActivityPub::TagManager.instance.uri_for(sender),
-            object: note,
+            object: note.merge(updated: '2021-09-08T22:39:25Z'),
           }
         end
 
diff --git a/spec/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service_spec.rb
index f87adcae137..481572742b3 100644
--- a/spec/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/activitypub/process_status_update_service_spec.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 require 'rails_helper'
 
+def poll_option_json(name, votes)
+  { type: 'Note', name: name, replies: { type: 'Collection', totalItems: votes } }
+end
+
 RSpec.describe ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService, type: :service do
   let!(:status) { Fabricate(:status, text: 'Hello world', account: Fabricate(:account, domain: 'example.com')) }
 
@@ -46,6 +50,180 @@ RSpec.describe ActivityPub::ProcessStatusUpdateService, type: :service do
       expect(status.reload.spoiler_text).to eq 'Show more'
     end
 
+    context 'when the changes are only in sanitized-out HTML' do
+      let!(:status) { Fabricate(:status, text: '<p>Hello world <a href="https://joinmastodon.org" rel="nofollow">joinmastodon.org</a></p>', account: Fabricate(:account, domain: 'example.com')) }
+
+      let(:payload) do
+        {
+          '@context': 'https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams',
+          id: 'foo',
+          type: 'Note',
+          updated: '2021-09-08T22:39:25Z',
+          content: '<p>Hello world <a href="https://joinmastodon.org" rel="noreferrer">joinmastodon.org</a></p>',
+        }
+      end
+
+      before do
+        subject.call(status, json)
+      end
+
+      it 'does not create any edits' do
+        expect(status.reload.edits).to be_empty
+      end
+
+      it 'does not mark status as edited' do
+        expect(status.edited?).to be false
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when the status has not been explicitly edited' do
+      let(:payload) do
+        {
+          '@context': 'https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams',
+          id: 'foo',
+          type: 'Note',
+          content: 'Updated text',
+        }
+      end
+
+      before do
+        subject.call(status, json)
+      end
+
+      it 'does not create any edits' do
+        expect(status.reload.edits).to be_empty
+      end
+
+      it 'does not mark status as edited' do
+        expect(status.reload.edited?).to be false
+      end
+
+      it 'does not update the text' do
+        expect(status.reload.text).to eq 'Hello world'
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when the status has not been explicitly edited and features a poll' do
+      let(:account)    { Fabricate(:account, domain: 'example.com') }
+      let!(:expiration) { 10.days.from_now.utc }
+      let!(:status) do
+        Fabricate(:status,
+          text: 'Hello world',
+          account: account,
+          poll_attributes: {
+            options: %w(Foo Bar),
+            account: account,
+            multiple: false,
+            hide_totals: false,
+            expires_at: expiration
+          }
+        )
+      end
+
+      let(:payload) do
+        {
+          '@context': 'https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams',
+          id: 'https://example.com/foo',
+          type: 'Question',
+          content: 'Hello world',
+          endTime: expiration.iso8601,
+          oneOf: [
+            poll_option_json('Foo', 4),
+            poll_option_json('Bar', 3),
+          ],
+        }
+      end
+
+      before do
+        subject.call(status, json)
+      end
+
+      it 'does not create any edits' do
+        expect(status.reload.edits).to be_empty
+      end
+
+      it 'does not mark status as edited' do
+        expect(status.reload.edited?).to be false
+      end
+
+      it 'does not update the text' do
+        expect(status.reload.text).to eq 'Hello world'
+      end
+
+      it 'updates tallies' do
+        expect(status.poll.reload.cached_tallies).to eq [4, 3]
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when the status changes a poll despite being not explicitly marked as updated' do
+      let(:account)    { Fabricate(:account, domain: 'example.com') }
+      let!(:expiration) { 10.days.from_now.utc }
+      let!(:status) do
+        Fabricate(:status,
+          text: 'Hello world',
+          account: account,
+          poll_attributes: {
+            options: %w(Foo Bar),
+            account: account,
+            multiple: false,
+            hide_totals: false,
+            expires_at: expiration
+          }
+        )
+      end
+
+      let(:payload) do
+        {
+          '@context': 'https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams',
+          id: 'https://example.com/foo',
+          type: 'Question',
+          content: 'Hello world',
+          endTime: expiration.iso8601,
+          oneOf: [
+            poll_option_json('Foo', 4),
+            poll_option_json('Bar', 3),
+            poll_option_json('Baz', 3),
+          ],
+        }
+      end
+
+      before do
+        subject.call(status, json)
+      end
+
+      it 'does not create any edits' do
+        expect(status.reload.edits).to be_empty
+      end
+
+      it 'does not mark status as edited' do
+        expect(status.reload.edited?).to be false
+      end
+
+      it 'does not update the text' do
+        expect(status.reload.text).to eq 'Hello world'
+      end
+
+      it 'does not update tallies' do
+        expect(status.poll.reload.cached_tallies).to eq [0, 0]
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when receiving an edit older than the latest processed' do
+      before do
+        status.snapshot!(at_time: status.created_at, rate_limit: false)
+        status.update!(text: 'Hello newer world', edited_at: Time.now.utc)
+        status.snapshot!(rate_limit: false)
+      end
+
+      it 'does not create any edits' do
+        expect { subject.call(status, json) }.not_to change { status.reload.edits.pluck(&:id) }
+      end
+
+      it 'does not update the text, spoiler_text or edited_at' do
+        expect { subject.call(status, json) }.not_to change { s = status.reload; [s.text, s.spoiler_text, s.edited_at] }
+      end
+    end
+
     context 'with no changes at all' do
       let(:payload) do
         {