diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index c12e6577..d7b196df 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ WebIO = "0f1e0344-ec1d-5b48-a673-e5cf874b6c29"
 Blink = "0.12"
 JSExpr = "0.5, 1"
 JSON = "0.20, 0.21"
-PlotlyBase = "0.6, ^0.7, 0.8"
+PlotlyBase = "0.8.9"
 Reexport = "0.2, 1"
 Requires = "1.0"
 WebIO = "0.8"
diff --git a/src/PlotlyJS.jl b/src/PlotlyJS.jl
index 43a553f0..541f1c6b 100644
--- a/src/PlotlyJS.jl
+++ b/src/PlotlyJS.jl
@@ -165,4 +165,20 @@ function __init__()
     end
 end
 
+# for methods that update the layout, first apply to the plot, then let plotly.js
+# deal with the rest via the react function
+for (k, v) in vcat(PlotlyBase._layout_obj_updaters, PlotlyBase._layout_vector_updaters)
+    @eval function PlotlyBase.$(k)(p::SyncPlot, args...;kwargs...)
+        $(k)(p.plot, args...; kwargs...)
+        send_command(p.scope, :react, p.plot.data, p.plot.layout)
+    end
+end
+
+for k in [:add_hrect!, :add_hline!, :add_vrect!, :add_vline!]
+    @eval function PlotlyBase.$(k)(p::SyncPlot, args...;kwargs...)
+        $(k)(p.plot, args...; kwargs...)
+        send_command(p.scope, :react, p.plot.data, p.plot.layout)
+    end
+end
+
 end # module