diff --git a/packages/react-native-renderer/src/ReactNativeAttributePayload.js b/packages/react-native-renderer/src/ReactNativeAttributePayload.js
index 5e6cd4d81533f..edb6668231a2a 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-renderer/src/ReactNativeAttributePayload.js
+++ b/packages/react-native-renderer/src/ReactNativeAttributePayload.js
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ function defaultDiffer(prevProp: mixed, nextProp: mixed): boolean {
     return true;
   } else {
     // For objects and arrays, the default diffing algorithm is a deep compare
-    return deepDiffer(prevProp, nextProp);
+    return deepDiffer(prevProp, nextProp, {unsafelyIgnoreFunctions: true});
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__mocks__/react-native/Libraries/ReactPrivate/deepDiffer.js b/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__mocks__/react-native/Libraries/ReactPrivate/deepDiffer.js
index a4ede524658ce..8bc969ffb6523 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__mocks__/react-native/Libraries/ReactPrivate/deepDiffer.js
+++ b/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__mocks__/react-native/Libraries/ReactPrivate/deepDiffer.js
@@ -3,20 +3,43 @@
  *
  * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ * @flow
  */
 
 'use strict';
 
-// TODO: Move deepDiffer into react
+type Options = {|+unsafelyIgnoreFunctions?: boolean|};
 
-const deepDiffer = function(one: any, two: any): boolean {
+/*
+ * @returns {bool} true if different, false if equal
+ */
+const deepDiffer = function(
+  one: any,
+  two: any,
+  maxDepthOrOptions: Options | number = -1,
+  maybeOptions?: Options,
+): boolean {
+  const options =
+    typeof maxDepthOrOptions === 'number' ? maybeOptions : maxDepthOrOptions;
+  const maxDepth =
+    typeof maxDepthOrOptions === 'number' ? maxDepthOrOptions : -1;
+  if (maxDepth === 0) {
+    return true;
+  }
   if (one === two) {
     // Short circuit on identical object references instead of traversing them.
     return false;
   }
   if (typeof one === 'function' && typeof two === 'function') {
-    // We consider all functions equal
-    return false;
+    // We consider all functions equal unless explicitly configured otherwise
+    let unsafelyIgnoreFunctions =
+      options == null ? null : options.unsafelyIgnoreFunctions;
+    if (unsafelyIgnoreFunctions == null) {
+      unsafelyIgnoreFunctions = true;
+    }
+    return !unsafelyIgnoreFunctions;
   }
   if (typeof one !== 'object' || one === null) {
     // Primitives can be directly compared
@@ -37,13 +60,13 @@ const deepDiffer = function(one: any, two: any): boolean {
       return true;
     }
     for (let ii = 0; ii < len; ii++) {
-      if (deepDiffer(one[ii], two[ii])) {
+      if (deepDiffer(one[ii], two[ii], maxDepth - 1, options)) {
         return true;
       }
     }
   } else {
     for (const key in one) {
-      if (deepDiffer(one[key], two[key])) {
+      if (deepDiffer(one[key], two[key], maxDepth - 1, options)) {
         return true;
       }
     }
diff --git a/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__tests__/ReactNativeAttributePayload-test.js b/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__tests__/ReactNativeAttributePayload-test.js
index 49190d11da954..5e15208338860 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__tests__/ReactNativeAttributePayload-test.js
+++ b/packages/react-native-renderer/src/__tests__/ReactNativeAttributePayload-test.js
@@ -231,4 +231,44 @@ describe('ReactNativeAttributePayload', () => {
       ),
     ).toEqual({a: null, c: true});
   });
+
+  it('should skip changed functions', () => {
+    expect(
+      diff(
+        {
+          a: function() {
+            return 1;
+          },
+        },
+        {
+          a: function() {
+            return 9;
+          },
+        },
+        {a: true},
+      ),
+    ).toEqual(null);
+  });
+
+  it('should skip deeply-nested changed functions', () => {
+    expect(
+      diff(
+        {
+          wrapper: {
+            a: function() {
+              return 1;
+            },
+          },
+        },
+        {
+          wrapper: {
+            a: function() {
+              return 9;
+            },
+          },
+        },
+        {wrapper: true},
+      ),
+    ).toEqual(null);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/scripts/flow/react-native-host-hooks.js b/scripts/flow/react-native-host-hooks.js
index 4415dde1a2d88..460f6170cdd2f 100644
--- a/scripts/flow/react-native-host-hooks.js
+++ b/scripts/flow/react-native-host-hooks.js
@@ -19,8 +19,20 @@ import type {
 import type {RNTopLevelEventType} from 'legacy-events/TopLevelEventTypes';
 import type {CapturedError} from 'react-reconciler/src/ReactCapturedValue';
 
+type DeepDifferOptions = {|+unsafelyIgnoreFunctions?: boolean|};
+
 declare module 'react-native/Libraries/ReactPrivate/ReactNativePrivateInterface' {
-  declare export function deepDiffer(one: any, two: any): boolean;
+  declare export function deepDiffer(
+    one: any,
+    two: any,
+    maxDepth?: number,
+    options?: DeepDifferOptions,
+  ): boolean;
+  declare export function deepDiffer(
+    one: any,
+    two: any,
+    options: DeepDifferOptions,
+  ): boolean;
   declare export function deepFreezeAndThrowOnMutationInDev<T>(obj: T): T;
   declare export function flattenStyle(style: any): any;
   declare export var RCTEventEmitter: {