diff --git a/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/LibraryManager.cs b/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/LibraryManager.cs
index 47184b7892..db27862ce7 100644
--- a/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/LibraryManager.cs
+++ b/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/LibraryManager.cs
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ using MediaBrowser.Model.Dto;
 using MediaBrowser.Model.Entities;
 using MediaBrowser.Model.IO;
 using MediaBrowser.Model.Library;
-using MediaBrowser.Model.Net;
 using MediaBrowser.Model.Querying;
 using MediaBrowser.Model.Tasks;
 using MediaBrowser.Providers.MediaInfo;
@@ -1957,7 +1956,10 @@ namespace Emby.Server.Implementations.Library
         /// <inheritdoc />
         public async Task UpdateItemsAsync(IReadOnlyList<BaseItem> items, BaseItem parent, ItemUpdateType updateReason, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
-            await RunMetadataSavers(items, updateReason).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            foreach (var item in items)
+            {
+                await RunMetadataSavers(item, updateReason).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            }
 
             _itemRepository.SaveItems(items, cancellationToken);
 
@@ -1994,19 +1996,16 @@ namespace Emby.Server.Implementations.Library
         public Task UpdateItemAsync(BaseItem item, BaseItem parent, ItemUpdateType updateReason, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
             => UpdateItemsAsync(new[] { item }, parent, updateReason, cancellationToken);
 
-        public async Task RunMetadataSavers(IReadOnlyList<BaseItem> items, ItemUpdateType updateReason)
+        public Task RunMetadataSavers(BaseItem item, ItemUpdateType updateReason)
         {
-            foreach (var item in items)
+            if (item.IsFileProtocol)
             {
-                if (item.IsFileProtocol)
-                {
-                    ProviderManager.SaveMetadata(item, updateReason);
-                }
-
-                item.DateLastSaved = DateTime.UtcNow;
-
-                await UpdateImagesAsync(item, updateReason >= ItemUpdateType.ImageUpdate).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                ProviderManager.SaveMetadata(item, updateReason);
             }
+
+            item.DateLastSaved = DateTime.UtcNow;
+
+            return UpdateImagesAsync(item, updateReason >= ItemUpdateType.ImageUpdate);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Library/ILibraryManager.cs b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Library/ILibraryManager.cs
index ff80952f76..6700761fcc 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Library/ILibraryManager.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Library/ILibraryManager.cs
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Library
             string videoPath,
             string[] files);
 
-        Task RunMetadataSavers(IReadOnlyList<BaseItem> items, ItemUpdateType updateReason);
+        Task RunMetadataSavers(BaseItem item, ItemUpdateType updateReason);
 
         BaseItem GetParentItem(string parentId, Guid? userId);
 
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Providers/Manager/MetadataService.cs b/MediaBrowser.Providers/Manager/MetadataService.cs
index a1cd0b2eac..8b3ca17ca1 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Providers/Manager/MetadataService.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Providers/Manager/MetadataService.cs
@@ -232,7 +232,6 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Providers.Manager
         private async Task SavePeopleMetadataAsync(List<PersonInfo> people, LibraryOptions libraryOptions, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
             var personsToSave = new List<BaseItem>();
-            var personsToSaveWithImages = new List<BaseItem>();
 
             foreach (var person in people)
             {
@@ -240,13 +239,15 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Providers.Manager
 
                 if (person.ProviderIds.Count > 0 || !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(person.ImageUrl))
                 {
+                    var itemUpdateType = ItemUpdateType.MetadataDownload;
+                    var saveEntity = false;
                     var personEntity = LibraryManager.GetPerson(person.Name);
                     foreach (var id in person.ProviderIds)
                     {
                         if (!string.Equals(personEntity.GetProviderId(id.Key), id.Value, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                         {
                             personEntity.SetProviderId(id.Key, id.Value);
-                            personsToSave.Add(personEntity);
+                            saveEntity = true;
                         }
                     }
 
@@ -260,17 +261,19 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Providers.Manager
                             },
                             0);
 
-                        personsToSaveWithImages.Add(personEntity);
+                        saveEntity = true;
+                        itemUpdateType = ItemUpdateType.ImageUpdate;
+                    }
+
+                    if (saveEntity)
+                    {
+                        personsToSave.Add(personEntity);
+                        await LibraryManager.RunMetadataSavers(personEntity, itemUpdateType).ConfigureAwait(false);
                     }
                 }
             }
 
-            // This is a little ugly, but it saves a lot of I/O with the db by doing this in bulk.
-            // To avoid updating images for no reason, we differentiate between the two item update types.
-            await LibraryManager.RunMetadataSavers(personsToSave, ItemUpdateType.MetadataDownload).ConfigureAwait(false);
-            await LibraryManager.RunMetadataSavers(personsToSaveWithImages, ItemUpdateType.ImageUpdate).ConfigureAwait(false);
-
-            LibraryManager.CreateItems(personsToSave.Concat(personsToSaveWithImages).ToList(), null, CancellationToken.None);
+            LibraryManager.CreateItems(personsToSave, null, CancellationToken.None);
         }
 
         protected virtual Task AfterMetadataRefresh(TItemType item, MetadataRefreshOptions refreshOptions, CancellationToken cancellationToken)