diff --git a/app-src/scripts/task-list/_task-list-d.scss b/app-src/scripts/task-list/_task-list-d.scss
index 8cd48e5841..4b776bbc0a 100644
--- a/app-src/scripts/task-list/_task-list-d.scss
+++ b/app-src/scripts/task-list/_task-list-d.scss
@@ -417,7 +417,10 @@ $this-task-text-color-done: #aaaaaa;
 
   .task {
     @include crawl-in-out;
-    transition: background-color $transition-duration-m $ease-in-out-quint;
+
+    &:focus {
+      transition: none;
+    }
 
     &.is-current {
       .play-btn {