diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/ui.py b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/ui.py
index 5df94768fe..54925b0bcb 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/ui.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/ui.py
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ from hashlib import sha256
 from threading import Thread
 
 from PyQt5.Qt import (
-    QApplication, QDockWidget, QEvent, QHBoxLayout, QMimeData, QModelIndex, QPixmap,
-    QScrollBar, Qt, QUrl, QVBoxLayout, QWidget, pyqtSignal
+    QApplication, QDockWidget, QEvent, QMimeData, QModelIndex, QPixmap, QScrollBar,
+    Qt, QUrl, QVBoxLayout, QWidget, pyqtSignal
 )
 
 from calibre import prints
@@ -66,64 +66,6 @@ class ScrollBar(QScrollBar):
             return QScrollBar.paintEvent(self, ev)
 
 
-class CentralWidget(QWidget):
-
-    def __init__(self, web_view, parent):
-        QWidget.__init__(self, parent)
-        self._ignore_value_changes = False
-        self.web_view = web_view
-        self.l = l = QHBoxLayout(self)
-        l.setContentsMargins(0, 0, 0, 0), l.setSpacing(0)
-        l.addWidget(web_view)
-        self.vertical_scrollbar = vs = ScrollBar(Qt.Vertical, self)
-        vs.valueChanged[int].connect(self.value_changed)
-        l.addWidget(vs)
-        self.current_book_length = None
-        web_view.notify_progress_frac.connect(self.update_scrollbar_positions_on_scroll)
-        web_view.scrollbar_visibility_changed.connect(self.apply_scrollbar_visibility)
-        web_view.overlay_visibility_changed.connect(self.overlay_visibility_changed)
-        self.apply_scrollbar_visibility()
-
-    def __enter__(self):
-        self._ignore_value_changes = True
-
-    def __exit__(self, *a):
-        self._ignore_value_changes = False
-
-    def apply_scrollbar_visibility(self):
-        visible = get_session_pref('standalone_scrollbar', default=False, group=None)
-        self.vertical_scrollbar.setVisible(bool(visible))
-
-    def overlay_visibility_changed(self, visible):
-        self.vertical_scrollbar.setEnabled(not visible)
-
-    def set_scrollbar_value(self, frac):
-        with self:
-            val = int(self.vertical_scrollbar.maximum() * frac)
-            self.vertical_scrollbar.setValue(val)
-
-    def value_changed(self, val):
-        if not self._ignore_value_changes:
-            frac = val / self.vertical_scrollbar.maximum()
-            self.web_view.goto_frac(frac)
-
-    def initialize_scrollbars(self, book_length):
-        with self:
-            self.current_book_length = book_length
-            maximum = book_length / 10
-            bar = self.vertical_scrollbar
-            bar.setMinimum(0)
-            bar.setMaximum(maximum)
-            bar.setSingleStep(10)
-            bar.setPageStep(100)
-
-    def update_scrollbar_positions_on_scroll(self, progress_frac, file_progress_frac, book_length):
-        if book_length != self.current_book_length:
-            self.initialize_scrollbars(book_length)
-        if not self.vertical_scrollbar.isSliderDown():
-            self.set_scrollbar_value(progress_frac)
-
-
 class EbookViewer(MainWindow):
 
     msg_from_anotherinstance = pyqtSignal(object)
@@ -192,8 +134,7 @@ class EbookViewer(MainWindow):
         self.web_view.selection_changed.connect(self.lookup_widget.selected_text_changed, type=Qt.QueuedConnection)
         self.web_view.view_image.connect(self.view_image, type=Qt.QueuedConnection)
         self.web_view.copy_image.connect(self.copy_image, type=Qt.QueuedConnection)
-        self.central_widget = CentralWidget(self.web_view, self)
-        self.setCentralWidget(self.central_widget)
+        self.setCentralWidget(self.web_view)
         self.restore_state()
         if continue_reading:
             self.continue_reading()
@@ -354,7 +295,6 @@ class EbookViewer(MainWindow):
             self.web_view.show_home_page()
             return
         set_book_path(data['base'], data['pathtoebook'])
-        self.central_widget.initialize_scrollbars(set_book_path.parsed_manifest['spine_length'])
         self.current_book_data = data
         self.current_book_data['annotations_map'] = defaultdict(list)
         self.current_book_data['annotations_path_key'] = path_key(data['pathtoebook']) + '.json'
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/web_view.py b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/web_view.py
index ba718e3b3a..20a91d2fad 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/web_view.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/web_view.py
@@ -232,7 +232,6 @@ class ViewerBridge(Bridge):
     view_image = from_js(object)
     copy_image = from_js(object)
     change_background_image = from_js(object)
-    notify_progress_frac = from_js(object, object, object)
     overlay_visibility_changed = from_js(object)
 
     create_view = to_js()
@@ -376,8 +375,6 @@ class WebView(RestartingWebEngineView):
     selection_changed = pyqtSignal(object)
     view_image = pyqtSignal(object)
     copy_image = pyqtSignal(object)
-    scrollbar_visibility_changed = pyqtSignal()
-    notify_progress_frac = pyqtSignal(object, object, object)
     overlay_visibility_changed = pyqtSignal(object)
 
     def __init__(self, parent=None):
@@ -405,7 +402,6 @@ class WebView(RestartingWebEngineView):
         self.bridge.selection_changed.connect(self.selection_changed)
         self.bridge.view_image.connect(self.view_image)
         self.bridge.copy_image.connect(self.copy_image)
-        self.bridge.notify_progress_frac.connect(self.notify_progress_frac)
         self.bridge.overlay_visibility_changed.connect(self.overlay_visibility_changed)
         self.bridge.report_cfi.connect(self.call_callback)
         self.bridge.change_background_image.connect(self.change_background_image)
@@ -507,8 +503,6 @@ class WebView(RestartingWebEngineView):
             vprefs['session_data'] = sd
             if key in ('standalone_font_settings', 'base_font_size'):
                 apply_font_settings(self._page)
-            elif key == 'standalone_scrollbar':
-                self.scrollbar_visibility_changed.emit()
 
     def do_callback(self, func_name, callback):
         cid = next(self.callback_id_counter)
diff --git a/src/pyj/read_book/prefs/scrolling.pyj b/src/pyj/read_book/prefs/scrolling.pyj
index 932dba09ae..8300d0f42a 100644
--- a/src/pyj/read_book/prefs/scrolling.pyj
+++ b/src/pyj/read_book/prefs/scrolling.pyj
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ from dom import unique_id
 from widgets import create_button
 from session import defaults
 
-from read_book.globals import runtime
-
 CONTAINER = unique_id('standalone-scrolling-settings')
 
 
@@ -43,10 +41,9 @@ def create_scrolling_panel(container):
     container.appendChild(cb(
         'paged_margin_clicks_scroll_by_screen', _('Clicking on the margins scrolls by screen fulls instead of pages')))
 
-    if runtime.is_standalone_viewer:
-        container.appendChild(E.div(style='margin-top:1ex; border-top: solid 1px', '\xa0'))
-        container.appendChild(cb(
-            'standalone_scrollbar', _('Show a scrollbar')))
+    container.appendChild(E.div(style='margin-top:1ex; border-top: solid 1px', '\xa0'))
+    container.appendChild(cb(
+        'book_scrollbar', _('Show a scrollbar')))
 
     container.appendChild(E.div(
         style='margin-top: 1rem', create_button(_('Restore defaults'), action=restore_defaults)
diff --git a/src/pyj/read_book/scrollbar.pyj b/src/pyj/read_book/scrollbar.pyj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..446f18cb18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pyj/read_book/scrollbar.pyj
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8
+# License: GPL v3 Copyright: 2019, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+from __python__ import bound_methods, hash_literals
+
+from dom import unique_id
+from elementmaker import E
+from book_list.globals import get_session_data
+
+
+class BookScrollbar:
+
+    def __init__(self, view):
+        self.view = view
+        self.container_id = unique_id('book-scrollbar')
+        self.sync_to_contents_timer = 0
+        self.sync_contents_timer = 0
+
+    @property
+    def container(self):
+        return document.getElementById(self.container_id)
+
+    def create(self):
+        self.on_bob_mousedown = self.on_bob_mouse_event.bind(None, 'down')
+        self.on_bob_mousemove = self.on_bob_mouse_event.bind(None, 'move')
+        self.on_bob_mouseup = self.on_bob_mouse_event.bind(None, 'up')
+        return E.div(
+            id=self.container_id,
+            style='height: 100vh; background-color: #aaa; width: 10px; border-radius: 5px',
+            onclick=self.bar_clicked,
+            E.div(
+                style='position: relative; width: 100%; height: 22px; background-color: #444; border-radius: 5px',
+                onmousedown=self.on_bob_mousedown,
+            ),
+            E.div(
+                style='position: absolute; z-index: 30000; width: 100vw; height: 100vh; left: 0; top: 0; display: none;'
+            )
+        )
+
+    def bar_clicked(self, evt):
+        if evt.button is 0:
+            c = self.container
+            b = c.firstChild
+            bob_top = b.offsetTop
+            bob_bottom = bob_top + b.offsetHeight
+            if evt.clientY < bob_top:
+                self.view.left_margin_clicked(evt)
+            elif evt.clientY > bob_bottom:
+                self.view.right_margin_clicked(evt)
+
+    def on_bob_mouse_event(self, which, evt):
+        c = self.container
+        bob = c.firstChild
+        mouse_grab = bob.nextSibling
+        if which is 'move':
+            top = evt.pageY - self.down_y
+            height = c.clientHeight - bob.clientHeight
+            top = max(0, min(top, height))
+            bob.style.top = f'{top}px'
+            evt.preventDefault(), evt.stopPropagation()
+            frac = bob.offsetTop / height
+            if self.sync_contents_timer:
+                window.clearTimeout(self.sync_contents_timer)
+            self.sync_contents_timer = window.setTimeout(self.view.goto_frac.bind(None, frac), 2)
+        elif which is 'down':
+            if evt.button is not 0:
+                return
+            evt.preventDefault(), evt.stopPropagation()
+            self.down_y = evt.clientY - bob.getBoundingClientRect().top
+            mouse_grab.style.display = 'block'
+            mouse_grab.addEventListener('mousemove', self.on_bob_mousemove, {'capture': True, 'passive': False})
+            mouse_grab.addEventListener('mouseup', self.on_bob_mouseup, {'capture': True, 'passive': False})
+        elif which is 'up':
+            self.down_y = 0
+            mouse_grab.removeEventListener('mousemove', self.on_bob_mousemove, {'capture': True, 'passive': False})
+            mouse_grab.removeEventListener('mouseup', self.on_bob_mouseup, {'capture': True, 'passive': False})
+            window.setTimeout(def(): self.container.firstChild.nextSibling.style.display = 'none';, 10)
+            evt.preventDefault(), evt.stopPropagation()
+
+    def apply_visibility(self):
+        sd = get_session_data()
+        self.container.style.display = 'block' if sd.get('book_scrollbar') else 'none'
+
+    def set_position(self, frac):
+        c = self.container
+        frac = max(0, min(frac, 1))
+        c.firstChild.style.top = f'{frac * (c.clientHeight - c.firstChild.clientHeight)}px'
+
+    def sync_to_contents(self, frac):
+        if self.sync_to_contents_timer:
+            window.clearTimeout(self.sync_to_contents_timer)
+        self.sync_to_contents_timer = window.setTimeout(self.set_position.bind(None, frac), 100)
diff --git a/src/pyj/read_book/view.pyj b/src/pyj/read_book/view.pyj
index eb772e0c08..7d5ffd4a08 100644
--- a/src/pyj/read_book/view.pyj
+++ b/src/pyj/read_book/view.pyj
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from dom import add_extra_css, build_rule, set_css, svgicon, unique_id
 from iframe_comm import IframeWrapper
 from modals import error_dialog, warning_dialog
 from read_book.content_popup import ContentPopupOverlay
+from read_book.scrollbar import BookScrollbar
 from read_book.globals import (
     current_book, runtime, set_current_spine_item, ui_operations
 )
@@ -150,7 +151,8 @@ class View:
         self.report_cfi_callbacks = {}
         self.show_chrome_counter = 0
         self.show_loading_callback_timer = None
-        self.clock_timer_id = 0
+        self.timer_ids = {'clock': 0}
+        self.book_scrollbar = BookScrollbar(self)
         sd = get_session_data()
         self.keyboard_shortcut_map = create_shortcut_map(sd.get('keyboard_shortcuts'))
         left_margin = E.div(svgicon('caret-left'), style='width:{}px;'.format(sd.get('margin_left', 20)), class_='book-side-margin', id='book-left-margin', onclick=self.left_margin_clicked)
@@ -169,6 +171,7 @@ class View:
                             margin_elem(sd, 'margin_bottom', 'book-bottom-margin', self.bottom_margin_clicked),
                         ),
                         right_margin,
+                        self.book_scrollbar.create(),
                         E.div(style='position: absolute; top:0; left:0; width: 100%; pointer-events:none; display:none', id='book-search-overlay'),  # search overlay
                         E.div(style='position: absolute; top:0; left:0; width: 100%; height: 100%; display:none', id='book-content-popup-overlay'),  # content popup overlay
                         E.div(style='position: absolute; top:0; left:0; width: 100%; height: 100%; display:none', id='book-overlay'),  # main overlay
@@ -574,6 +577,7 @@ class View:
         # redisplay_book() is called when settings are changed
         sd = get_session_data()
         self.keyboard_shortcut_map = create_shortcut_map(sd.get('keyboard_shortcuts'))
+        self.book_scrollbar.apply_visibility()
         self.display_book(self.book)
 
     def iframe_settings(self, name):
@@ -813,12 +817,12 @@ class View:
         if div:
             render_template(div, 'margin_top', 'header')
         if has_clock:
-            if not self.clock_timer_id:
-                self.clock_timer_id = window.setInterval(self.update_header_footer, 60000)
+            if not self.timer_ids.clock:
+                self.timer_ids.clock = window.setInterval(self.update_header_footer, 60000)
         else:
-            if self.clock_timer_id:
-                window.clearInterval(self.clock_timer_id)
-                self.clock_timer_id = 0
+            if self.timer_ids.clock:
+                window.clearInterval(self.timer_ids.clock)
+                self.timer_ids.clock = 0
 
     def on_update_toc_position(self, data):
         update_visible_toc_nodes(data.visible_anchors)
@@ -856,11 +860,7 @@ class View:
     def set_progress_frac(self, progress_frac, file_progress_frac):
         self.current_progress_frac = progress_frac or 0
         self.current_file_progress_frac = file_progress_frac or 0
-        if ui_operations.notify_progress_frac:
-            book_length = 0
-            if self.book?.manifest:
-                book_length = self.book.manifest.spine_length or 0
-            ui_operations.notify_progress_frac(self.current_progress_frac, self.current_file_progress_frac, book_length)
+        self.book_scrollbar.sync_to_contents(self.current_progress_frac)
 
     def update_font_size(self):
         self.iframe_wrapper.send_message('change_font_size', base_font_size=get_session_data().get('base_font_size'))
diff --git a/src/pyj/session.pyj b/src/pyj/session.pyj
index bed329f275..edc4b888af 100644
--- a/src/pyj/session.pyj
+++ b/src/pyj/session.pyj
@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ defaults = {
     'word_actions': v'[]',
     'hide_tooltips': False,
     'keyboard_shortcuts': {},
+    'book_scrollbar': False,
     'standalone_font_settings': {},
     'standalone_misc_settings': {},
-    'standalone_scrollbar': False,
     'standalone_recently_opened': v'[]',
     'paged_wheel_scrolls_by_screen': False,
     'paged_margin_clicks_scroll_by_screen': True,
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ is_local_setting = {
     'standalone_font_settings': True,
     'standalone_misc_settings': True,
     'standalone_recently_opened': True,
-    'standalone_scrollbar': False,
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/pyj/viewer-main.pyj b/src/pyj/viewer-main.pyj
index e9839bafd3..0dcfe61c64 100644
--- a/src/pyj/viewer-main.pyj
+++ b/src/pyj/viewer-main.pyj
@@ -312,8 +312,6 @@ if window is window.top:
         to_python.copy_image(name)
     ui_operations.change_background_image = def(img_id):
         to_python.change_background_image(img_id)
-    ui_operations.notify_progress_frac = def (pf, fpf, book_length):
-        to_python.notify_progress_frac(pf, fpf, book_length)
     ui_operations.quit = def():
         to_python.quit()
     ui_operations.overlay_visibility_changed = def(visible):