diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js
index 42e970cc7c0762..42e267e460eb30 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ export default function BlockNavigationBlock( {
 	const {
 		__experimentalFeatures: withExperimentalFeatures,
 		__experimentalPersistentListViewFeatures: withExperimentalPersistentListViewFeatures,
+		isTreeGridMounted,
 	} = useBlockNavigationContext();
 	const blockNavigationBlockSettingsClassName = classnames(
 		'block-editor-block-navigation-block__menu-cell',
@@ -88,7 +89,11 @@ export default function BlockNavigationBlock( {
 	// only focus the selected list item on mount; otherwise the list would always
 	// try to steal the focus from the editor canvas.
 	useEffect( () => {
-		if ( withExperimentalPersistentListViewFeatures && isSelected ) {
+		if (
+			withExperimentalPersistentListViewFeatures &&
+			! isTreeGridMounted &&
+			isSelected
+		) {
 			cellRef.current.focus();
 		}
 	}, [] );
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/tree.js b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/tree.js
index c9ca266f7b1ace..e1a9b4a8302b71 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/tree.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/tree.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  */
 
 import { __experimentalTreeGrid as TreeGrid } from '@wordpress/components';
-import { useMemo } from '@wordpress/element';
+import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef } from '@wordpress/element';
 import { __ } from '@wordpress/i18n';
 /**
  * Internal dependencies
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ export default function BlockNavigationTree( {
 		target: blockDropTarget,
 	} = useBlockNavigationDropZone();
 
+	const isMounted = useRef( false );
+	useEffect( () => {
+		isMounted.current = true;
+	}, [] );
+
 	if ( ! __experimentalFeatures ) {
 		blockDropTarget = undefined;
 	}
@@ -40,11 +45,13 @@ export default function BlockNavigationTree( {
 			__experimentalFeatures,
 			__experimentalPersistentListViewFeatures,
 			blockDropTarget,
+			isTreeGridMounted: isMounted.current,
 		} ),
 		[
 			__experimentalFeatures,
 			__experimentalPersistentListViewFeatures,
 			blockDropTarget,
+			isMounted.current,
 		]
 	);