diff --git a/src/calibre/spell/dictionary.py b/src/calibre/spell/dictionary.py
index af61800ef7..05ffdb7d92 100644
--- a/src/calibre/spell/dictionary.py
+++ b/src/calibre/spell/dictionary.py
@@ -339,6 +339,10 @@ class Dictionaries(object):
         locale = locale or self.default_locale
         d = self.dictionary_for_locale(locale)
         ans = ()
+
+        def add_suggestion(w, ans):
+            return (w,) + tuple(x for x in ans if x != w)
+
         if d is not None:
             try:
                 ans = d.obj.suggest(unicode(word))
@@ -348,17 +352,17 @@ class Dictionaries(object):
                 dehyphenated_word = self.remove_hyphenation.sub('', word)
                 if len(dehyphenated_word) != len(word) and self.recognized(dehyphenated_word, locale):
                     # Ensure the de-hyphenated word is present and is the first suggestion
-                    ans = (dehyphenated_word,) + tuple(x for x in ans if x != dehyphenated_word)
+                    ans = add_suggestion(dehyphenated_word, ans)
                 else:
                     m = self.fix_punctuation_pat.search(word)
                     if m is not None:
                         w1, w2 = word[:m.start()], word[m.end():]
                         if self.recognized(w1) and self.recognized(w2):
                             fw = w1 + m.group() + ' ' + w2
-                            ans = (fw,) + ans
+                            ans = add_suggestion(fw, ans)
                             if capitalize(w2) != w2:
                                 fw = w1 + m.group() + ' ' + capitalize(w2)
-                                ans = (fw,) + ans
+                                ans = add_suggestion(fw, ans)
 
         return ans