diff --git a/packages/core/src/BaseNavigationContainer.tsx b/packages/core/src/BaseNavigationContainer.tsx
index bb384f77..092a71a8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/BaseNavigationContainer.tsx
+++ b/packages/core/src/BaseNavigationContainer.tsx
@@ -192,12 +192,13 @@ const BaseNavigationContainer = React.forwardRef(
           return acc;
         }, {}),
         ...emitter.create('root'),
-        resetRoot,
         dispatch,
+        resetRoot,
+        isFocused: () => true,
         canGoBack,
-        getRootState,
-        getState: () => stateRef.current,
         getParent: () => undefined,
+        getState: () => stateRef.current,
+        getRootState,
         getCurrentRoute,
         getCurrentOptions,
         isReady: () => listeners.focus[0] != null,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/__tests__/createNavigationContainerRef.test.tsx b/packages/core/src/__tests__/createNavigationContainerRef.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d9629f17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/__tests__/createNavigationContainerRef.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import type { NavigationState, ParamListBase } from '@react-navigation/routers';
+import { render } from '@testing-library/react-native';
+import * as React from 'react';
+
+import BaseNavigationContainer from '../BaseNavigationContainer';
+import createNavigationContainerRef from '../createNavigationContainerRef';
+import Screen from '../Screen';
+import useNavigationBuilder from '../useNavigationBuilder';
+import MockRouter from './__fixtures__/MockRouter';
+
+it('adds the listener even if container is mounted later', () => {
+  const ref = createNavigationContainerRef<ParamListBase>();
+  const listener = jest.fn();
+
+  ref.addListener('state', listener);
+
+  const TestNavigator = (props: any) => {
+    const { state, descriptors } = useNavigationBuilder<
+      NavigationState,
+      any,
+      {},
+      { title?: string },
+      any
+    >(MockRouter, props);
+    const { render, options } = descriptors[state.routes[state.index].key];
+
+    return (
+      <main>
+        <h1>{options.title}</h1>
+        <div>{render()}</div>
+      </main>
+    );
+  };
+
+  const element = (
+    <BaseNavigationContainer ref={ref}>
+      <TestNavigator>
+        <Screen name="foo">{() => null}</Screen>
+        <Screen name="bar">{() => null}</Screen>
+      </TestNavigator>
+    </BaseNavigationContainer>
+  );
+
+  render(element).update(element);
+
+  expect(listener).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+});
diff --git a/packages/core/src/createNavigationContainerRef.tsx b/packages/core/src/createNavigationContainerRef.tsx
index 1abc4e62..896f603d 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/createNavigationContainerRef.tsx
+++ b/packages/core/src/createNavigationContainerRef.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { CommonActions } from '@react-navigation/routers';
 
-import type { NavigationContainerRefWithCurrent } from './types';
+import type {
+  NavigationContainerEventMap,
+  NavigationContainerRef,
+  NavigationContainerRefWithCurrent,
+} from './types';
 
 export const NOT_INITIALIZED_ERROR =
   "The 'navigation' object hasn't been initialized yet. This might happen if you don't have a navigator mounted, or if the navigator hasn't finished mounting. See https://reactnavigation.org/docs/navigating-without-navigation-prop#handling-initialization for more details.";
@@ -14,6 +18,7 @@ export default function createNavigationContainerRef<
     'removeListener',
     'resetRoot',
     'dispatch',
+    'isFocused',
     'canGoBack',
     'getRootState',
     'getState',
@@ -22,26 +27,70 @@ export default function createNavigationContainerRef<
     'getCurrentOptions',
   ] as const;
 
+  const listeners: Record<string, ((...args: any[]) => void)[]> = {};
+
+  const removeListener = (
+    event: string,
+    callback: (...args: any[]) => void
+  ) => {
+    listeners[event] = listeners[event]?.filter((cb) => cb !== callback);
+  };
+
+  let current: NavigationContainerRef<ParamList> | null = null;
+
   const ref: NavigationContainerRefWithCurrent<ParamList> = {
+    get current() {
+      return current;
+    },
+    set current(value: NavigationContainerRef<ParamList> | null) {
+      current = value;
+
+      if (value != null) {
+        Object.entries(listeners).forEach(([event, callbacks]) => {
+          callbacks.forEach((callback) => {
+            value.addListener(
+              event as keyof NavigationContainerEventMap,
+              callback
+            );
+          });
+        });
+      }
+    },
+    isReady: () => {
+      if (current == null) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      return current.isReady();
+    },
     ...methods.reduce<any>((acc, name) => {
       acc[name] = (...args: any[]) => {
-        if (ref.current == null) {
-          console.error(NOT_INITIALIZED_ERROR);
+        if (current == null) {
+          switch (name) {
+            case 'addListener': {
+              const [event, callback] = args;
+
+              listeners[event] = listeners[event] || [];
+              listeners[event].push(callback);
+
+              return () => removeListener(event, callback);
+            }
+            case 'removeListener': {
+              const [event, callback] = args;
+
+              removeListener(event, callback);
+              break;
+            }
+            default:
+              console.error(NOT_INITIALIZED_ERROR);
+          }
         } else {
           // @ts-expect-error: this is ok
-          return ref.current[name](...args);
+          return current[name](...args);
         }
       };
       return acc;
     }, {}),
-    isReady: () => {
-      if (ref.current == null) {
-        return false;
-      }
-
-      return ref.current.isReady();
-    },
-    current: null,
   };
 
   return ref;