diff --git a/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw.go b/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw.go
index 6ebc876a86b..5658800e579 100644
--- a/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw.go
+++ b/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw.go
@@ -593,8 +593,6 @@ func (ph *persistentHNSW[T]) insertHelper(ctx context.Context, tc *TxnCache,
 	// var nns []persistentHeapElement[T]
 	visited := []persistentHeapElement[T]{}
 	inLevel := getInsertLayer(ph.maxLevels) // calculate layer to insert node at (randomized every time)
-	var layerErr error
-
 	for level := range inLevel {
 		// perform insertion for layers [level, max_level) only, when level < inLevel just find better start
 		err := ph.getVecFromUid(entry, tc, &startVec)
@@ -617,7 +615,6 @@ func (ph *persistentHNSW[T]) insertHelper(ctx context.Context, tc *TxnCache,
 
 	var outboundEdgesAllLayers = make([][]uint64, ph.maxLevels)
 	var inboundEdgesAllLayersMap = make(map[uint64][][]uint64)
-	nnUidArray := []uint64{}
 	for level := inLevel; level < ph.maxLevels; level++ {
 		err := ph.getVecFromUid(entry, tc, &startVec)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -626,38 +623,34 @@ func (ph *persistentHNSW[T]) insertHelper(ctx context.Context, tc *TxnCache,
 		layerResult, err := ph.searchPersistentLayer(tc, level, entry, startVec,
 			inVec, false, ph.efConstruction, index.AcceptAll[T])
 		if err != nil {
-			return []persistentHeapElement[T]{}, []*index.KeyValue{}, layerErr
+			return []persistentHeapElement[T]{}, []*index.KeyValue{}, err
 		}
 
 		entry = layerResult.bestNeighbor().index
 
 		nns := layerResult.neighbors
 		for i := range nns {
-			nnUidArray = append(nnUidArray, nns[i].index)
 			if inboundEdgesAllLayersMap[nns[i].index] == nil {
 				inboundEdgesAllLayersMap[nns[i].index] = make([][]uint64, ph.maxLevels)
 			}
 			inboundEdgesAllLayersMap[nns[i].index][level] =
 				append(inboundEdgesAllLayersMap[nns[i].index][level], inUuid)
-			// add nn to outboundEdges.
-			// These should already be correctly ordered.
 			outboundEdgesAllLayers[level] =
 				append(outboundEdgesAllLayers[level], nns[i].index)
 		}
 	}
 	edge, err := ph.addNeighbors(ctx, tc, inUuid, outboundEdgesAllLayers)
-	for i := range nnUidArray {
-		edge, err := ph.addNeighbors(
-			ctx, tc, nnUidArray[i], inboundEdgesAllLayersMap[nnUidArray[i]])
+	if err != nil {
+		return []persistentHeapElement[T]{}, []*index.KeyValue{}, err
+	}
+	edges = append(edges, edge)
+	for nnUid, inboundEdges := range inboundEdgesAllLayersMap {
+		edge, err := ph.addNeighbors(ctx, tc, nnUid, inboundEdges)
 		if err != nil {
 			return []persistentHeapElement[T]{}, []*index.KeyValue{}, err
 		}
 		edges = append(edges, edge)
 	}
-	if err != nil {
-		return []persistentHeapElement[T]{}, []*index.KeyValue{}, err
-	}
-	edges = append(edges, edge)
 
 	return visited, edges, nil
 }
diff --git a/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw_test.go b/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw_test.go
index e1ca82a291c..2a27ac99e7c 100644
--- a/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw_test.go
+++ b/tok/hnsw/persistent_hnsw_test.go
@@ -453,6 +453,87 @@ func TestNonflatEntryInsertToPersistentFlatStorage(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestInsertHelper_NoDuplicateNeighborEdges verifies that when the same neighbor
+// UID appears across multiple HNSW layers, insertHelper only produces one
+// addNeighbors call per unique neighbor UID (not one per layer appearance).
+//
+// Before the fix (sp/dedup-neighbor-updates), insertHelper accumulated neighbor
+// UIDs into nnUidArray with duplicates (same UID once per layer it appeared in),
+// causing redundant addNeighbors calls and wasted writes. The fix uses
+// inboundEdgesAllLayersMap (keyed by UID) to deduplicate.
+func TestInsertHelper_NoDuplicateNeighborEdges(t *testing.T) {
+	emptyTsDbs()
+	flatPh := flatPhs[0]
+	flatPh.nodeAllEdges = make(map[uint64][][]uint64)
+
+	// Insert the entry node first.
+	entryInsert := flatEntryInsert
+	key := DataKey(flatPh.pred, entryInsert.inUuid)
+	for i := range tsDbs {
+		tsDbs[i].inMemTestDb[string(key[:])] = floatArrayAsBytes(entryInsert.inVec)
+	}
+	_, err := flatPh.Insert(context.TODO(), entryInsert.tc, entryInsert.inUuid, entryInsert.inVec)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to insert entry node: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Insert a second node so the entry node becomes a neighbor.
+	insert2 := insertToPersistentFlatStorageTest{
+		tc:     NewTxnCache(&inMemTxn{startTs: 12, commitTs: 40}, 12),
+		inUuid: uint64(123),
+		inVec:  []float64{0.824, 0.319, 0.111},
+	}
+	key2 := DataKey(flatPh.pred, insert2.inUuid)
+	for i := range tsDbs {
+		tsDbs[i].inMemTestDb[string(key2[:])] = floatArrayAsBytes(insert2.inVec)
+	}
+	edges2, err := flatPh.Insert(context.TODO(), insert2.tc, insert2.inUuid, insert2.inVec)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to insert second node: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Now insert a third node that should have the previous two as neighbors.
+	insert3 := insertToPersistentFlatStorageTest{
+		tc:     NewTxnCache(&inMemTxn{startTs: 50, commitTs: 60}, 50),
+		inUuid: uint64(456),
+		inVec:  []float64{0.5, 0.3, 0.2},
+	}
+	key3 := DataKey(flatPh.pred, insert3.inUuid)
+	for i := range tsDbs {
+		tsDbs[i].inMemTestDb[string(key3[:])] = floatArrayAsBytes(insert3.inVec)
+	}
+	edges3, err := flatPh.Insert(context.TODO(), insert3.tc, insert3.inUuid, insert3.inVec)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to insert third node: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Count how many times each entity UID appears in the edges list.
+	// With the dedup fix, each neighbor UID should appear at most once
+	// (plus the inserted node itself appears once).
+	edgeEntityCounts := make(map[uint64]int)
+	for _, edge := range edges3 {
+		edgeEntityCounts[edge.Entity]++
+	}
+
+	for uid, count := range edgeEntityCounts {
+		if count > 1 {
+			t.Errorf("Entity UID %d appeared %d times in edges (expected at most 1). "+
+				"This indicates duplicate addNeighbors calls for the same neighbor.", uid, count)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Also verify edges2 has no duplicates for the same reason.
+	edgeEntityCounts2 := make(map[uint64]int)
+	for _, edge := range edges2 {
+		edgeEntityCounts2[edge.Entity]++
+	}
+	for uid, count := range edgeEntityCounts2 {
+		if count > 1 {
+			t.Errorf("(insert2) Entity UID %d appeared %d times in edges (expected at most 1).", uid, count)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 type searchPersistentFlatStorageTest struct {
 	qc          *QueryCache
 	query       []float64