diff --git a/includes/Services/PluginService.php b/includes/Services/PluginService.php
index 90f1c7007..1d1280bed 100644
--- a/includes/Services/PluginService.php
+++ b/includes/Services/PluginService.php
@@ -33,10 +33,21 @@ public static function initialize() {
 
 		$flow = Data::current_flow();
 		if ( 'sitegen' === $flow && SiteGenService::is_enabled() ) {
-			$init_plugins = array_merge( Plugins::get_init(), SiteGenService::get_plugin_recommendations() );
+			$init_plugins = SiteGenService::get_plugin_recommendations();
 			if ( is_wp_error( $init_plugins ) ) {
 				return $init_plugins;
 			}
+			// Convert { slug->slug } to hash for faster search
+			// As Php uses array as { [0] -> slug_name } and that won't work with array_key_exists
+			$plugin_slugs = array_column( $init_plugins, 'slug', 'slug' );
+
+			// Iterate and ensure no duplicates are added
+			$default_plugins = Plugins::get_init();
+			foreach ( $default_plugins as $default_plugin ) {
+				if ( ! array_key_exists( $default_plugin['slug'], $plugin_slugs ) ) {
+					$init_plugins[] = $default_plugin;
+				}
+			}
 		} else {
 			// Get the initial list of plugins to be installed based on the plan.
 			$init_plugins = array_merge( Plugins::get_init(), SiteFeatures::get_init() );