diff --git a/src/app/core/state.ts b/src/app/core/state.ts
index 195516fb..78aba6fb 100644
--- a/src/app/core/state.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/state.ts
@@ -259,8 +259,9 @@ export const pubkeyLink = (pubkey: string, relays = Router.get().FromPubkeys([pu
 export const bootstrapPubkeys = derived(userFollowList, $userFollowList => {
   const appPubkeys = DEFAULT_PUBKEYS.split(",")
   const userPubkeys = shuffle(getPubkeyTagValues(getListTags($userFollowList)))
+  const mergedPubkeys = userPubkeys.length > 5 ? userPubkeys : [...userPubkeys, ...appPubkeys]
 
-  return userPubkeys.length > 5 ? userPubkeys : [...userPubkeys, ...appPubkeys]
+  return uniq(mergedPubkeys)
 })
 
 export const deriveEvent = makeDeriveEvent({
diff --git a/src/routes/people/+page.svelte b/src/routes/people/+page.svelte
index 7d9937b6..a6006f42 100644
--- a/src/routes/people/+page.svelte
+++ b/src/routes/people/+page.svelte
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@
 
   const search = debounce(200, (term: string) => {
     if (term) {
-      pubkeys = $profileSearch.searchValues(term)
+      pubkeys = Array.from(new Set($profileSearch.searchValues(term)))
     } else {
-      pubkeys = $bootstrapPubkeys
+      pubkeys = Array.from(new Set($bootstrapPubkeys))
     }
   })