diff --git a/app/controllers/start_form_controller.rb b/app/controllers/start_form_controller.rb
index 008f4934..a1f3e91d 100644
--- a/app/controllers/start_form_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/start_form_controller.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ class StartFormController < ApplicationController
 
   def show
     @submitter = @template.submissions.new(account_id: @template.account_id)
-                          .submitters.new(uuid: filter_undefined_submitters(@template).first['uuid'])
+                          .submitters.new(uuid: (filter_undefined_submitters(@template).first ||
+                                                 @template.submitters.first)['uuid'])
   end
 
   def update
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ class StartFormController < ApplicationController
       (Submitter.where(submission: template.submissions).find_by(slug: params[:resubmit]) if params[:resubmit].present?)
 
     submitter.assign_attributes(
-      uuid: filter_undefined_submitters(template).first['uuid'],
+      uuid: (filter_undefined_submitters(template).first || @template.submitters.first)['uuid'],
       ip: request.remote_ip,
       ua: request.user_agent,
       values: resubmit_submitter&.preferences&.fetch('default_values', nil) || {},
diff --git a/lib/submissions/assign_defined_submitters.rb b/lib/submissions/assign_defined_submitters.rb
index 96bb3fb9..3862332c 100644
--- a/lib/submissions/assign_defined_submitters.rb
+++ b/lib/submissions/assign_defined_submitters.rb
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ module Submissions
     def assign_defined_submitters(submission)
       submission.template.submitters.to_a.select do |item|
         next if item['email'].blank? && item['is_requester'].blank?
+        next if submission.submitters.any? { |e| e.uuid == item['uuid'] }
 
         submission.submitters.new(
           account_id: submission.account_id,
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ module Submissions
     def assign_linked_submitters(submission)
       submission.template.submitters.to_a.select do |item|
         next if item['linked_to_uuid'].blank?
+        next if submission.submitters.any? { |e| e.uuid == item['uuid'] }
 
         email = submission.submitters.find { |s| s.uuid == item['linked_to_uuid'] }&.email