diff --git a/js/app/hooks/useAvatars.tsx b/js/app/hooks/useAvatars.tsx
index 4a0f8b487..324ca97c7 100644
--- a/js/app/hooks/useAvatars.tsx
+++ b/js/app/hooks/useAvatars.tsx
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ export default function useAvatars(dids: string[]) {
   // Ask for each DID once. Callers pass a fresh array every render, and a DID
   // the Bluesky app view doesn't know (an account on another PDS with no
   // Bluesky profile) never lands in the cache, so keying on the array, or
-  // re-asking for whatever is missing, refetches in a loop.
+  // re-asking for whatever is missing, refetches in a loop. A lookup that
+  // failed outright is forgotten, so a later render asks again.
   const requested = useRef(new Set<string>());
   const missing = dids
     .filter((did) => !(did in profiles) && !requested.current.has(did))
@@ -21,7 +22,9 @@ export default function useAvatars(dids: string[]) {
     if (!missing) return;
     const toFetch = missing.split(",");
     toFetch.forEach((did) => requested.current.add(did));
-    getProfiles(toFetch);
+    getProfiles(toFetch).then((ok) => {
+      if (!ok) toFetch.forEach((did) => requested.current.delete(did));
+    });
   }, [missing]);
 
   return profiles;
diff --git a/js/app/store/slices/blueskySlice.ts b/js/app/store/slices/blueskySlice.ts
index d87d9be3d..93cbcbf89 100644
--- a/js/app/store/slices/blueskySlice.ts
+++ b/js/app/store/slices/blueskySlice.ts
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ export interface BlueskySlice {
   refreshSessionScope: () => Promise<void>;
   logout: () => Promise<void>;
   getProfile: (actor: string) => Promise<void>;
-  getProfiles: (actors: string[]) => Promise<void>;
+  // resolves false if the lookup failed, as opposed to finding nothing
+  getProfiles: (actors: string[]) => Promise<boolean>;
   oauthCallback: (url: string) => Promise<void>;
   setReturnRoute: (route: { name: string; params?: any } | null) => void;
   showLoginModal: boolean;
@@ -456,7 +457,7 @@ export const createBlueskySlice: StateCreator<
       // an unchanged cache must stay the same object, or every subscriber
       // re-renders for nothing
       if (Object.keys(parsedProfiles).length === 0) {
-        return;
+        return true;
       }
       set((s) => ({
         profileCache: {
@@ -464,8 +465,10 @@ export const createBlueskySlice: StateCreator<
           ...parsedProfiles,
         },
       }));
+      return true;
     } catch (error) {
       console.error("getProfiles error", error);
+      return false;
     }
   },