diff --git a/osu.Game/Database/BackgroundDataStoreProcessor.cs b/osu.Game/Database/BackgroundDataStoreProcessor.cs
index b63c1e2888..682c4a7d26 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Database/BackgroundDataStoreProcessor.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Database/BackgroundDataStoreProcessor.cs
@@ -700,9 +700,17 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
                         if (lookupSucceeded)
                         {
                             Debug.Assert(result != null);
-                            beatmap.Metadata.UserTags.Clear();
-                            beatmap.Metadata.UserTags.AddRange(result.UserTags);
-                            return beatmap.Metadata.UserTags.Any();
+
+                            var userTags = result.UserTags.ToHashSet();
+
+                            if (!userTags.SetEquals(beatmap.Metadata.UserTags))
+                            {
+                                beatmap.Metadata.UserTags.Clear();
+                                beatmap.Metadata.UserTags.AddRange(userTags);
+                                return true;
+                            }
+
+                            return false;
                         }
 
                         Logger.Log(@$"Could not find {beatmap.GetDisplayString()} in local cache while backpopulating missing user tags");
diff --git a/osu.Game/Screens/SelectV2/RealmPopulatingOnlineLookupSource.cs b/osu.Game/Screens/SelectV2/RealmPopulatingOnlineLookupSource.cs
index 9652cb9fbc..486dfbe255 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Screens/SelectV2/RealmPopulatingOnlineLookupSource.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Screens/SelectV2/RealmPopulatingOnlineLookupSource.cs
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ using osu.Game.Extensions;
 using osu.Game.Online.API;
 using osu.Game.Online.API.Requests;
 using osu.Game.Online.API.Requests.Responses;
+using Realms;
 
 namespace osu.Game.Screens.SelectV2
 {
@@ -57,46 +58,59 @@ namespace osu.Game.Screens.SelectV2
                     return;
                 }
 
-                var tagsById = (onlineBeatmapSet.RelatedTags ?? []).ToDictionary(t => t.Id);
-                var onlineBeatmaps = onlineBeatmapSet.Beatmaps.ToDictionary(b => b.OnlineID);
-                await realm.WriteAsync(r =>
-                {
-                    var beatmapSet = r.All<BeatmapSetInfo>().Where(b => b.OnlineID == id);
-
-                    foreach (var dbBeatmapSet in beatmapSet)
-                    {
-                        dbBeatmapSet.Status = onlineBeatmapSet.Status;
-
-                        foreach (var dbBeatmap in dbBeatmapSet.Beatmaps)
-                        {
-                            if (onlineBeatmaps.TryGetValue(dbBeatmap.OnlineID, out var onlineBeatmap))
-                            {
-                                // compare `BeatmapUpdaterMetadataLookup`
-                                dbBeatmap.OnlineMD5Hash = onlineBeatmap.MD5Hash;
-                                dbBeatmap.LastOnlineUpdate = onlineBeatmap.LastUpdated;
-
-                                if (dbBeatmap.MatchesOnlineVersion)
-                                    dbBeatmap.Status = onlineBeatmap.Status;
-
-                                string[] userTagsArray = onlineBeatmap.TopTags?
-                                                                      .Select(t => (topTag: t, relatedTag: tagsById.GetValueOrDefault(t.TagId)))
-                                                                      .Where(t => t.relatedTag != null)
-                                                                      // see https://github.com/ppy/osu-web/blob/bb3bd2e7c6f84f26066df5ea20a81c77ec9bb60a/resources/js/beatmapsets-show/controller.ts#L103-L106 for sort criteria
-                                                                      .OrderByDescending(t => t.topTag.VoteCount)
-                                                                      .ThenBy(t => t.relatedTag!.Name)
-                                                                      .Select(t => t.relatedTag!.Name)
-                                                                      .ToArray() ?? [];
-                                dbBeatmap.Metadata.UserTags.Clear();
-                                dbBeatmap.Metadata.UserTags.AddRange(userTagsArray);
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                }).ConfigureAwait(true);
+                await realm.WriteAsync(r => updateRealmBeatmapSet(r, onlineBeatmapSet)).ConfigureAwait(true);
                 tcs.SetResult(onlineBeatmapSet);
             };
             request.Failure += tcs.SetException;
             api.Queue(request);
             return tcs.Task;
         }
+
+        private static void updateRealmBeatmapSet(Realm r, APIBeatmapSet onlineBeatmapSet)
+        {
+            var tagsById = (onlineBeatmapSet.RelatedTags ?? []).ToDictionary(t => t.Id);
+            var onlineBeatmaps = onlineBeatmapSet.Beatmaps.ToDictionary(b => b.OnlineID);
+
+            var dbBeatmapSets = r.All<BeatmapSetInfo>().Where(b => b.OnlineID == onlineBeatmapSet.OnlineID);
+
+            foreach (var dbBeatmapSet in dbBeatmapSets)
+            {
+                // note that every single write to realm models is preceded by a guard, even if it technically would write the same value back.
+                // the reason this matters is that doing so avoids triggering realm subscription callbacks.
+                // unfortunately in terms of subscriptions realm treats *every* write to any realm object as a modification,
+                // even if the write was redundant and had no observable effect.
+
+                if (dbBeatmapSet.Status != onlineBeatmapSet.Status)
+                    dbBeatmapSet.Status = onlineBeatmapSet.Status;
+
+                foreach (var dbBeatmap in dbBeatmapSet.Beatmaps)
+                {
+                    if (onlineBeatmaps.TryGetValue(dbBeatmap.OnlineID, out var onlineBeatmap))
+                    {
+                        // compare `BeatmapUpdaterMetadataLookup`
+                        if (dbBeatmap.OnlineMD5Hash != onlineBeatmap.MD5Hash)
+                            dbBeatmap.OnlineMD5Hash = onlineBeatmap.MD5Hash;
+
+                        if (dbBeatmap.LastOnlineUpdate != onlineBeatmap.LastUpdated)
+                            dbBeatmap.LastOnlineUpdate = onlineBeatmap.LastUpdated;
+
+                        if (dbBeatmap.MatchesOnlineVersion && dbBeatmap.Status != onlineBeatmap.Status)
+                            dbBeatmap.Status = onlineBeatmap.Status;
+
+                        HashSet<string> userTags = onlineBeatmap.TopTags?
+                                                                .Select(t => (topTag: t, relatedTag: tagsById.GetValueOrDefault(t.TagId)))
+                                                                .Where(t => t.relatedTag != null)
+                                                                .Select(t => t.relatedTag!.Name)
+                                                                .ToHashSet() ?? [];
+
+                        if (!userTags.SetEquals(dbBeatmap.Metadata.UserTags))
+                        {
+                            dbBeatmap.Metadata.UserTags.Clear();
+                            dbBeatmap.Metadata.UserTags.AddRange(userTags);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 }