diff --git a/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts b/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts
index 228550b57afe7003b4fa48b90f11174174037cfd..2915bcb44bb07a29f744b34a4b256d81d5fd17a2 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts
@@ -1041,3 +1041,8 @@ export function domContentLoaded(): TPromise<any> {
 		}
 	});
 }
+
+export function hintGPULayer(target: HTMLElement): void {
+	// This is to hint browsers that this dom node is suited to live in its own layer (e.g. sliders, etc.)
+	(<any>target.style).willChange = 'transform';
+}
diff --git a/src/vs/base/browser/ui/scrollbar/abstractScrollbar.ts b/src/vs/base/browser/ui/scrollbar/abstractScrollbar.ts
index c7194cbc5c5757baa6ad5bcf46886b6b642675b4..7a8743cb62a27c4707b036436acab2b85c1dffe1 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/browser/ui/scrollbar/abstractScrollbar.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/browser/ui/scrollbar/abstractScrollbar.ts
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ export abstract class AbstractScrollbar extends Widget {
 			this.domNode.setTransform('translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px)');
 		} else {
 			this.domNode.setTransform('');
+			DomUtils.hintGPULayer(this.domNode.domNode);
 		}
 
 		this._renderDomNode(this._scrollbarState.getRectangleLargeSize(), this._scrollbarState.getRectangleSmallSize());
diff --git a/src/vs/editor/browser/viewParts/minimap/minimap.ts b/src/vs/editor/browser/viewParts/minimap/minimap.ts
index 1358242f406429e5c79abab590659df9e8c80578..70cb44e1523cb2ba386f3a28d5ebcb015b4df865 100644
--- a/src/vs/editor/browser/viewParts/minimap/minimap.ts
+++ b/src/vs/editor/browser/viewParts/minimap/minimap.ts
@@ -413,6 +413,7 @@ export class Minimap extends ViewPart {
 		this._slider = createFastDomNode(document.createElement('div'));
 		this._slider.setPosition('absolute');
 		this._slider.setClassName('minimap-slider');
+		dom.hintGPULayer(this._slider.domNode);
 		this._domNode.appendChild(this._slider);
 
 		this._tokensColorTracker = MinimapTokensColorTracker.getInstance();