diff --git a/internal/entity/marker_fixtures.go b/internal/entity/marker_fixtures.go
index ec57e8051..112791ca9 100644
--- a/internal/entity/marker_fixtures.go
+++ b/internal/entity/marker_fixtures.go
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ var MarkerFixtures = MarkerMap{
 	"1000003-5": Marker{
 		ID:          5,
 		FileID:      1000003,
+		FaceID:      FaceFixtures.Get("unknown").ID,
 		RefUID:      "",
 		MarkerSrc:   SrcImage,
 		MarkerType:  MarkerFace,
diff --git a/internal/photoprism/faces.go b/internal/photoprism/faces.go
index 5b515f4ee..c827a0161 100644
--- a/internal/photoprism/faces.go
+++ b/internal/photoprism/faces.go
@@ -173,12 +173,18 @@ func (w *Faces) Start() (err error) {
 
 	// Skip clustering if index contains no new face markers.
 	if n := query.CountNewFaceMarkers(); n < 1 {
-		log.Debugf("faces: no new markers, matching known faces")
+		log.Debugf("faces: no new markers, matching people and faces")
 
-		if m, err := query.MatchKnownFaces(); err != nil {
+		if affected, err := query.MatchMarkersWithPeople(); err != nil {
+			log.Errorf("faces: %s (create people from markers)", err)
+		} else if affected > 0 {
+			log.Infof("faces: matched %d markers with people", affected)
+		}
+
+		if matched, err := query.MatchKnownFaces(); err != nil {
 			return err
-		} else if m > 0 {
-			log.Infof("faces: matched %d markers", m)
+		} else if matched > 0 {
+			log.Infof("faces: matched %d markers to known faces", matched)
 		}
 
 		return nil
@@ -313,7 +319,7 @@ func (w *Faces) Start() (err error) {
 					log.Errorf("faces: failed adding %s", txt.Quote(marker.MarkerLabel))
 				} else if f, ok := faceMap[faceId]; ok {
 					faceMap[faceId] = faceMatch{Embedding: f.Embedding, PersonUID: person.PersonUID}
-					entity.Db().Model(&entity.Face{}).Where("id = ?", faceId).Update("PersonUID", person.PersonUID)
+					entity.Db().Model(&entity.Face{}).Where("id = ? AND person_uid = ''", faceId).Update("PersonUID", person.PersonUID)
 				}
 
 				// Existing person?
diff --git a/internal/query/markers.go b/internal/query/markers.go
index c328b0b7b..a62bb0124 100644
--- a/internal/query/markers.go
+++ b/internal/query/markers.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package query
 
 import (
 	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/internal/entity"
+	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/pkg/txt"
 )
 
 // MarkerByID returns a Marker based on the ID.
@@ -16,22 +17,23 @@ func MarkerByID(id uint) (marker entity.Marker, err error) {
 
 // Markers finds a list of file markers filtered by type, embeddings, and sorted by id.
 func Markers(limit, offset int, markerType string, embeddings, unmatched bool) (result entity.Markers, err error) {
-	stmt := Db()
+	db := Db()
 
 	if markerType != "" {
-		stmt = stmt.Where("marker_type = ?", markerType)
+		db = db.Where("marker_type = ?", markerType)
 	}
 
 	if embeddings {
-		stmt = stmt.Where("embeddings <> ''")
+		db = db.Where("embeddings <> ''")
 	}
 
 	if unmatched {
-		stmt = stmt.Where("ref_uid = ''")
+		db = db.Where("ref_uid = ''")
 	}
 
-	stmt = stmt.Order("id").Limit(limit).Offset(offset)
-	err = stmt.Find(&result).Error
+	db = db.Order("id").Limit(limit).Offset(offset)
+
+	err = db.Find(&result).Error
 
 	return result, err
 }
@@ -64,3 +66,34 @@ func Embeddings(single bool) (result entity.Embeddings, err error) {
 
 	return result, nil
 }
+
+func MatchMarkersWithPeople() (affected int, err error) {
+	var markers entity.Markers
+
+	if err := Db().
+		Where("face_id <> '' AND ref_uid = '' AND ref_src = ''").
+		Where("marker_invalid = 0 AND marker_type = ?", entity.MarkerFace).
+		Where("marker_label <> ''").
+		Order("marker_label").
+		Find(&markers).Error; err != nil {
+		return affected, err
+	} else if len(markers) == 0 {
+		return affected, nil
+	}
+
+	for _, m := range markers {
+		if p := entity.NewPerson(m.MarkerLabel, entity.SrcMarker, 1); p == nil {
+			log.Errorf("faces: person should not be nil - bug?")
+		} else if p = entity.FirstOrCreatePerson(p); p == nil {
+			log.Errorf("faces: failed adding person %s for marker %d", txt.Quote(m.MarkerLabel), m.ID)
+		} else if err := m.Updates(entity.Val{"RefUID": p.PersonUID, "RefSrc": entity.SrcPeople, "FaceID": ""}); err != nil {
+			return affected, err
+		} else if err := Db().Model(&entity.Face{}).Where("id = ? AND person_uid = ''", m.FaceID).Update("PersonUID", p.PersonUID).Error; err != nil {
+			return affected, err
+		} else {
+			affected++
+		}
+	}
+
+	return affected, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/query/markers_test.go b/internal/query/markers_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a2eb1f97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/query/markers_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package query
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/internal/entity"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestMarkers(t *testing.T) {
+	results, err := Markers(3, 0, entity.MarkerFace, false, false)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, len(results), 1)
+
+	for _, val := range results {
+		assert.IsType(t, entity.Marker{}, val)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEmbeddings(t *testing.T) {
+	results, err := Embeddings(false)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, len(results), 1)
+
+	for _, val := range results {
+		assert.IsType(t, entity.Embedding{}, val)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMatchMarkersWithPeople(t *testing.T) {
+	affected, err := MatchMarkersWithPeople()
+
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, affected, 1)
+}