diff --git a/packages/api/src/repository/label.ts b/packages/api/src/repository/label.ts
index 093a34bd99..6342f32272 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/repository/label.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/repository/label.ts
@@ -73,7 +73,17 @@ export const labelRepository = appDataSource.getRepository(Label).extend({
   },
 
   createLabels(labels: CreateLabelInput[], userId: string) {
-    return this.save(labels.map((l) => convertToLabel(l, userId)))
+    return this.query(
+      `
+      INSERT INTO omnivore.labels (user_id, name, color, description, internal)
+      SELECT $1, $2, $3, $4, $5
+      WHERE NOT EXISTS (
+        SELECT 1 FROM omnivore.labels WHERE LOWER(name) = LOWER($2) AND user_id = $1
+      )
+      RETURNING id, name, color, description, created_at
+    `,
+      labels.map((l) => Object.values(convertToLabel(l, userId)))
+    ) as Promise<Label[]>
   },
 
   deleteById(id: string) {
diff --git a/packages/api/src/services/labels.ts b/packages/api/src/services/labels.ts
index 9e8a508c8f..46ec8eb0aa 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/services/labels.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/services/labels.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { DeepPartial, FindOptionsWhere, In } from 'typeorm'
 import { QueryDeepPartialEntity } from 'typeorm/query-builder/QueryPartialEntity'
 import { EntityLabel, LabelSource } from '../entity/entity_label'
 import { Label } from '../entity/label'
-import { LibraryItem } from '../entity/library_item'
 import { createPubSubClient, EntityType, PubsubClient } from '../pubsub'
 import { authTrx } from '../repository'
 import { CreateLabelInput, labelRepository } from '../repository/label'
@@ -37,30 +36,21 @@ export const findOrCreateLabels = async (
   labels: CreateLabelInput[],
   userId: string
 ): Promise<Label[]> => {
+  // create labels if not exist
+  await authTrx(
+    async (tx) =>
+      tx.withRepository(labelRepository).createLabels(labels, userId),
+    undefined,
+    userId
+  )
+
+  // find labels
   return authTrx(
-    async (tx) => {
-      const labelRepo = tx.withRepository(labelRepository)
-      // find existing labels
-      const labelEntities = await labelRepo.findByNames(
+    async (tx) =>
+      tx.withRepository(labelRepository).findByNames(
         labels.map((l) => l.name),
         userId
-      )
-
-      const existingLabelsInLowerCase = labelEntities.map((l) =>
-        l.name.toLowerCase()
-      )
-      const newLabels = labels.filter(
-        (l) => !existingLabelsInLowerCase.includes(l.name.toLowerCase())
-      )
-      if (newLabels.length === 0) {
-        return labelEntities
-      }
-
-      // create new labels
-      const newLabelEntities = await labelRepo.createLabels(newLabels, userId)
-
-      return [...labelEntities, ...newLabelEntities]
-    },
+      ),
     undefined,
     userId
   )