diff --git a/scm-ui/ui-components/.storybook/preview-body.html b/scm-ui/ui-components/.storybook/preview-body.html
deleted file mode 100644
index d2084fbba6..0000000000
--- a/scm-ui/ui-components/.storybook/preview-body.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-<div id="modalRoot"></div>
-<div id="toastRoot"></div>
diff --git a/scm-ui/ui-components/src/toast/Toast.tsx b/scm-ui/ui-components/src/toast/Toast.tsx
index cbbb2c58b6..6e6b12ff51 100644
--- a/scm-ui/ui-components/src/toast/Toast.tsx
+++ b/scm-ui/ui-components/src/toast/Toast.tsx
@@ -2,14 +2,13 @@ import React, { FC } from "react";
 import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
 import styled from "styled-components";
 import { getTheme, Themeable, ToastThemeContext, Type } from "./themes";
+import usePortalRootElement from "../usePortalRootElement";
 
 type Props = {
   type: Type;
   title: string;
 };
 
-const rootElement = document.getElementById("toastRoot");
-
 const Container = styled.div<Themeable>`
   z-index: 99999;
   position: fixed;
@@ -43,8 +42,10 @@ const Title = styled.h1<Themeable>`
 `;
 
 const Toast: FC<Props> = ({ children, title, type }) => {
+  const rootElement = usePortalRootElement("toastRoot");
   if (!rootElement) {
-    throw new Error("could not find toast container #toastRoot");
+    // portal not yet ready
+    return null;
   }
 
   const theme = getTheme(type);
diff --git a/scm-ui/ui-components/src/usePortalRootElement.ts b/scm-ui/ui-components/src/usePortalRootElement.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33925286d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scm-ui/ui-components/src/usePortalRootElement.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+
+const createElement = (id: string) => {
+  const element = document.createElement("div");
+  element.setAttribute("id", id);
+  return element;
+};
+
+const appendRootElement = (rootElement: HTMLElement) => {
+  document.body.appendChild(rootElement);
+};
+
+const usePortalRootElement = (id: string) => {
+  const [rootElement, setRootElement] = useState<HTMLElement>();
+  useEffect(() => {
+    let element = document.getElementById(id);
+    if (!element) {
+      element = createElement(id);
+      appendRootElement(element);
+    }
+    setRootElement(element);
+    return () => {
+      if (element) {
+        element.remove();
+      }
+      setRootElement(undefined);
+    };
+  }, [id]);
+
+  return rootElement;
+};
+
+export default usePortalRootElement;
diff --git a/scm-ui/ui-webapp/public/index.mustache b/scm-ui/ui-webapp/public/index.mustache
index 86193387ce..d94bc552ee 100644
--- a/scm-ui/ui-webapp/public/index.mustache
+++ b/scm-ui/ui-webapp/public/index.mustache
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
     </noscript>
     <div id="root"></div>
     <div id="modalRoot"></div>
-    <div id="toastRoot"></div>
 
     <!--
       This HTML file is a template.