There is a feature introduced in v2.6 that current item is shown on both panels. It's cool to know what is selected on each side, however it disrupts usability, at least on my side. For several months that I use this new feature I could not get used to it. I still consider the panel to be active if I see this current file selection. I'm aware that active panel is designated by highlighting top and bottom bars, however I usually look in the middle where current item selection is, so the highlighting is usually unnoticeable. I make mistakes almost every day by performing operations under an unwanted panel.

My suggestion is to make current item on inactive panel look differently - for example, use more space between dots in the dotted line or other style to catch the eye.