diff --git a/src/applications/feed/story/PhabricatorFeedStory.php b/src/applications/feed/story/PhabricatorFeedStory.php
index 07503e86b4..3d815364ef 100644
--- a/src/applications/feed/story/PhabricatorFeedStory.php
+++ b/src/applications/feed/story/PhabricatorFeedStory.php
@@ -71,9 +71,10 @@ abstract class PhabricatorFeedStory implements PhabricatorPolicyInterface {
       $object_phids += $phids;
     }
 
-    $objects = id(new PhabricatorObjectHandleData(array_keys($object_phids)))
+    $objects = id(new PhabricatorObjectQuery())
       ->setViewer($viewer)
-      ->loadObjects();
+      ->withPHIDs(array_keys($object_phids))
+      ->execute();
 
     foreach ($key_phids as $key => $phids) {
       if (!$phids) {
@@ -102,9 +103,10 @@ abstract class PhabricatorFeedStory implements PhabricatorPolicyInterface {
       $handle_phids += $key_phids[$key];
     }
 
-    $handles = id(new PhabricatorObjectHandleData(array_keys($handle_phids)))
+    $handles = id(new PhabricatorHandleQuery())
       ->setViewer($viewer)
-      ->loadHandles();
+      ->withPHIDs(array_keys($handle_phids))
+      ->execute();
 
     foreach ($key_phids as $key => $phids) {
       if (!$phids) {
diff --git a/src/applications/phid/query/PhabricatorObjectQuery.php b/src/applications/phid/query/PhabricatorObjectQuery.php
index d3ed12584c..94b670ebaa 100644
--- a/src/applications/phid/query/PhabricatorObjectQuery.php
+++ b/src/applications/phid/query/PhabricatorObjectQuery.php
@@ -118,4 +118,13 @@ final class PhabricatorObjectQuery
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * This query disables policy filtering because it is performed in the
+   * subqueries which actually load objects. We don't need to re-filter
+   * results, since policies have already been applied.
+   */
+  protected function shouldDisablePolicyFiltering() {
+    return true;
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/applications/policy/filter/PhabricatorPolicyFilter.php b/src/applications/policy/filter/PhabricatorPolicyFilter.php
index 9a26b952eb..ca83847a24 100644
--- a/src/applications/policy/filter/PhabricatorPolicyFilter.php
+++ b/src/applications/policy/filter/PhabricatorPolicyFilter.php
@@ -70,7 +70,19 @@ final class PhabricatorPolicyFilter {
         'Call setViewer() and requireCapabilities() before apply()!');
     }
 
+    // If the viewer is omnipotent, short circuit all the checks and just
+    // return the input unmodified. This is an optimization; we know the
+    // result already.
+    if ($viewer->isOmnipotent()) {
+      return $objects;
+    }
+
     $filtered = array();
+    $viewer_phid = $viewer->getPHID();
+
+    if (empty($this->userProjects[$viewer_phid])) {
+      $this->userProjects[$viewer_phid] = array();
+    }
 
     $need_projects = array();
     foreach ($objects as $key => $object) {
@@ -85,7 +97,23 @@ final class PhabricatorPolicyFilter {
         $policy = $object->getPolicy($capability);
         $type = phid_get_type($policy);
         if ($type == PhabricatorProjectPHIDTypeProject::TYPECONST) {
-          $need_projects[] = $policy;
+          $need_projects[$policy] = $policy;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    // If we need projects, check if any of the projects we need are also the
+    // objects we're filtering. Because of how project rules work, this is a
+    // common case.
+    if ($need_projects) {
+      foreach ($objects as $object) {
+        if ($object instanceof PhabricatorProject) {
+          $project_phid = $object->getPHID();
+          if (isset($need_projects[$project_phid])) {
+            $is_member = $object->isUserMember($viewer_phid);
+            $this->userProjects[$viewer_phid][$project_phid] = $is_member;
+            unset($need_projects[$project_phid]);
+          }
         }
       }
     }
@@ -93,40 +121,21 @@ final class PhabricatorPolicyFilter {
     if ($need_projects) {
       $need_projects = array_unique($need_projects);
 
-      // If projects have recursive policies, automatically fail them rather
-      // than looping. This will fall back to automatic capabilities and
-      // resolve the policies in a sensible way.
-      static $querying_projects = array();
-      foreach ($need_projects as $key => $project) {
-        if (empty($querying_projects[$project])) {
-          $querying_projects[$project] = true;
-          continue;
-        }
-        unset($need_projects[$key]);
-      }
+      // NOTE: We're using the omnipotent user here to avoid a recursive
+      // descent into madness. We don't actually need to know if the user can
+      // see these projects or not, since: the check is "user is member of
+      // project", not "user can see project"; and membership implies
+      // visibility anyway. Without this, we may load other projects and
+      // re-enter the policy filter and generally create a huge mess.
 
-      if ($need_projects) {
-        $caught = null;
-        try {
-          $projects = id(new PhabricatorProjectQuery())
-            ->setViewer($viewer)
-            ->withMemberPHIDs(array($viewer->getPHID()))
-            ->withPHIDs($need_projects)
-            ->execute();
-        } catch (Exception $ex) {
-          $caught = $ex;
-        }
+      $projects = id(new PhabricatorProjectQuery())
+        ->setViewer(PhabricatorUser::getOmnipotentUser())
+        ->withMemberPHIDs(array($viewer->getPHID()))
+        ->withPHIDs($need_projects)
+        ->execute();
 
-        foreach ($need_projects as $key => $project) {
-          unset($querying_projects[$project]);
-        }
-
-        if ($caught) {
-          throw $caught;
-        }
-
-        $projects = mpull($projects, null, 'getPHID');
-        $this->userProjects[$viewer->getPHID()] = $projects;
+      foreach ($projects as $project) {
+        $this->userProjects[$viewer_phid][$project->getPHID()] = true;
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/query/policy/PhabricatorPolicyAwareQuery.php b/src/infrastructure/query/policy/PhabricatorPolicyAwareQuery.php
index 79a76d2311..b16a47db73 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/query/policy/PhabricatorPolicyAwareQuery.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/query/policy/PhabricatorPolicyAwareQuery.php
@@ -182,7 +182,11 @@ abstract class PhabricatorPolicyAwareQuery extends PhabricatorOffsetPagedQuery {
         $maybe_visible = array();
       }
 
-      $visible = $filter->apply($maybe_visible);
+      if ($this->shouldDisablePolicyFiltering()) {
+        $visible = $maybe_visible;
+      } else {
+        $visible = $filter->apply($maybe_visible);
+      }
 
       $removed = array();
       foreach ($maybe_visible as $key => $object) {
@@ -328,4 +332,18 @@ abstract class PhabricatorPolicyAwareQuery extends PhabricatorOffsetPagedQuery {
     return $results;
   }
 
+
+  /**
+   * Allows a subclass to disable policy filtering. This method is dangerous.
+   * It should be used only if the query loads data which has already been
+   * filtered (for example, because it wraps some other query which uses
+   * normal policy filtering).
+   *
+   * @return bool True to disable all policy filtering.
+   * @task policyimpl
+   */
+  protected function shouldDisablePolicyFiltering() {
+    return false;
+  }
+
 }