diff --git a/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.cpp b/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.cpp
index 1ec386fff2a4..3fdaff50f5d6 100644
--- a/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.cpp
+++ b/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,54 @@
 #include <QHeaderView>
 #include <QMouseEvent>
 
+
+QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel::QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel( QgsLayoutModel *model, QObject *parent )
+  : QSortFilterProxyModel( parent )
+  , mModel( model )
+{
+  setSourceModel( mModel );
+}
+
+QgsLayoutItem *QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel::itemFromIndex( const QModelIndex &index ) const
+{
+  return mModel->itemFromIndex( mapToSource( index ) );
+}
+
+void QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel::setSelected( const QModelIndex &index )
+{
+  mModel->setSelected( mapToSource( index ) );
+}
+
+QVariant QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel::data( const QModelIndex &index, int role ) const
+{
+  if ( !index.isValid() )
+    return QVariant();
+
+  QgsLayoutItem *item = itemFromIndex( index );
+  if ( !item )
+  {
+    return QVariant();
+  }
+
+  if ( role == Qt::FontRole )
+  {
+    if ( index.column() == QgsLayoutModel::ItemId && item->isSelected() )
+    {
+      //draw name of selected items in bold
+      QFont boldFont;
+      boldFont.setBold( true );
+      return boldFont;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return QSortFilterProxyModel::data( index, role );
+}
+
+
+//
+// QgsLayoutItemsListView
+//
+
 QgsLayoutItemsListView::QgsLayoutItemsListView( QWidget *parent, QgsLayoutDesignerDialog *designer )
   : QTreeView( parent )
   , mDesigner( designer )
@@ -39,7 +87,7 @@ QgsLayoutItemsListView::QgsLayoutItemsListView( QWidget *parent, QgsLayoutDesign
 void QgsLayoutItemsListView::setCurrentLayout( QgsLayout *layout )
 {
   mLayout = layout;
-  mModel = layout->itemsModel();
+  mModel = new QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel( layout->itemsModel(), this );
   setModel( mModel );
 
   header()->setSectionResizeMode( 0, QHeaderView::Fixed );
@@ -48,7 +96,7 @@ void QgsLayoutItemsListView::setCurrentLayout( QgsLayout *layout )
   setColumnWidth( 1, Qgis::UI_SCALE_FACTOR * fontMetrics().width( QStringLiteral( "xxxx" ) ) );
   header()->setSectionsMovable( false );
 
-  connect( selectionModel(), &QItemSelectionModel::currentChanged, mLayout->itemsModel(), &QgsLayoutModel::setSelected );
+  connect( selectionModel(), &QItemSelectionModel::currentChanged, mModel, &QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel::setSelected );
 }
 
 void QgsLayoutItemsListView::showContextMenu( QPoint point )
diff --git a/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.h b/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.h
index 7346b60a645a..9b45e2e094b7 100644
--- a/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.h
+++ b/src/app/layout/qgslayoutitemslistview.h
@@ -18,10 +18,31 @@
 
 #include "qgis.h"
 #include <QTreeView>
+#include <QSortFilterProxyModel>
 
 class QgsLayout;
 class QgsLayoutDesignerDialog;
 class QgsLayoutModel;
+class QgsLayoutItem;
+
+class QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel : public QSortFilterProxyModel
+{
+    Q_OBJECT
+
+  public:
+
+    QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel( QgsLayoutModel *model, QObject *parent );
+
+    QgsLayoutItem *itemFromIndex( const QModelIndex &index ) const; \
+    QVariant data( const QModelIndex &index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole ) const override;
+
+  public slots:
+    void setSelected( const QModelIndex &index );
+
+  private:
+
+    QgsLayoutModel *mModel = nullptr;
+};
 
 /**
  * A list view for showing items in a layout
@@ -46,7 +67,7 @@ class QgsLayoutItemsListView : public QTreeView
   private:
 
     QgsLayout *mLayout = nullptr;
-    QgsLayoutModel *mModel = nullptr;
+    QgsLayoutItemsListViewModel *mModel = nullptr;
     QgsLayoutDesignerDialog *mDesigner = nullptr;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/core/layout/qgslayoutmodel.cpp b/src/core/layout/qgslayoutmodel.cpp
index 2a0ce176d363..6c2867dc743d 100644
--- a/src/core/layout/qgslayoutmodel.cpp
+++ b/src/core/layout/qgslayoutmodel.cpp
@@ -182,16 +182,6 @@ QVariant QgsLayoutModel::data( const QModelIndex &index, int role ) const
           return QVariant();
       }
 
-    case Qt::FontRole:
-      if ( index.column() == ItemId && item->isSelected() )
-      {
-        //draw name of selected items in bold
-        QFont boldFont;
-        boldFont.setBold( true );
-        return boldFont;
-      }
-      return QVariant();
-
     default:
       return QVariant();
   }