diff --git a/src/Model/Item.php b/src/Model/Item.php
index 6a5ff01d59..ead907f8b4 100644
--- a/src/Model/Item.php
+++ b/src/Model/Item.php
@@ -1451,6 +1451,23 @@ class Item extends BaseObject
 			Logger::log("Set network to " . $item["network"] . " for " . $item["uri"], Logger::DEBUG);
 		}
 
+		if ($item['verb'] == ACTIVITY_FOLLOW) {
+			Logger::log('Blubb: '.$item['uid'].' - '.$item['parent-uri']);
+			if (!$item['origin'] && ($item['author-id'] == User::getPublicContactById($uid))) {
+				// Our own follow request can be relayed to us. We don't store them to avoid notification chaos.
+				Logger::log("Blubb: Don't store not origin follow request from us for " . $item['parent-uri'], Logger::DEBUG);
+				return 0;
+			}
+
+			$condition = ['verb' => ACTIVITY_FOLLOW, 'uid' => $item['uid'],
+				'parent-uri' => $item['parent-uri'], 'author-id' => $item['author-id']];
+			if (self::exists($condition)) {
+				// It happens that we receive multiple follow requests by the same author - we only store one.
+				Logger::log('Blubb: Found existing follow request from author ' . $item['author-id'] . ' for ' . $item['parent-uri'], Logger::DEBUG);
+				return 0;
+			}
+		}
+
 		// Checking if there is already an item with the same guid
 		Logger::log('Checking for an item for user '.$item['uid'].' on network '.$item['network'].' with the guid '.$item['guid'], Logger::DEBUG);
 		$condition = ['guid' => $item['guid'], 'network' => $item['network'], 'uid' => $item['uid']];
diff --git a/src/Model/User.php b/src/Model/User.php
index 59ca4c90a4..841c81f741 100644
--- a/src/Model/User.php
+++ b/src/Model/User.php
@@ -99,6 +99,20 @@ class User
 		return DBA::selectFirst('user', [], ['uid' => $uid]);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @param  integer       $uid
+	 * @return array|boolean User record if it exists, false otherwise
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 */
+	public static function getPublicContactById($uid)
+	{
+		$self = DBA::selectFirst('contact', ['url'], ['self' => true, 'uid' => $uid]);
+		if (!DBA::isResult($self)) {
+			return false;
+		}
+		return Contact::getIdForURL($self['url'], 0, true);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @brief Returns the user id of a given profile URL
 	 *