diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
index 2226f80fab..c55f2934e2 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
@@ -2272,7 +2272,7 @@ processChatCommand cxt nm = \case
                   Just GroupOwnerContact {contactId, memberId}
                     | memberId == MemberId ownerId -> Just contactId
                   _ -> Nothing
-            void $ createLinkOwnerMember db cxt user gInfo' ctId_ (MemberId ownerId) ownerKey
+            void $ getCreateLinkOwnerMember db cxt user gInfo' ctId_ (MemberId ownerId) ownerKey
           pure gInfo'
         rs <- withGroupLock "connectPreparedGroup" groupId $
           mapConcurrently (connectToRelay user gInfo') relays
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Store/Groups.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Store/Groups.hs
index d607541bda..a45a814436 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Store/Groups.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Store/Groups.hs
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ module Simplex.Chat.Store.Groups
     getXGrpLinkMemReceived,
     setXGrpLinkMemReceived,
     createNewUnknownGroupMember,
-    createLinkOwnerMember,
+    getCreateLinkOwnerMember,
     updatePreparedChannelMember,
     updateUnknownMemberAnnounced,
     updateRosterMemberAnnounced,
@@ -3505,6 +3505,15 @@ createNewUnknownGroupMember db cxt user@User {userId, userContactId} GroupInfo {
   where
     VersionRange minV maxV = vr cxt
 
+-- Re-use owner member record on retry: owners are created before the relay loop,
+-- which is what fails when the network does (see getCreateRelayForMember)
+getCreateLinkOwnerMember :: DB.Connection -> StoreCxt -> User -> GroupInfo -> Maybe ContactId -> MemberId -> C.PublicKeyEd25519 -> ExceptT StoreError IO GroupMember
+getCreateLinkOwnerMember db cxt user gInfo contactId_ memberId ownerKey =
+  liftIO (runExceptT $ getGroupMemberByMemberId db cxt user gInfo memberId) >>= \case
+    Right m -> pure m
+    Left (SEGroupMemberNotFoundByMemberId _) -> createLinkOwnerMember db cxt user gInfo contactId_ memberId ownerKey
+    Left e -> throwError e
+
 createLinkOwnerMember :: DB.Connection -> StoreCxt -> User -> GroupInfo -> Maybe ContactId -> MemberId -> C.PublicKeyEd25519 -> ExceptT StoreError IO GroupMember
 createLinkOwnerMember db cxt user@User {userId, userContactId} GroupInfo {groupId} contactId_ memberId ownerKey = do
   currentTs <- liftIO getCurrentTime