diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift
index 30329717..013845be 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSplitViewController.swift
@@ -285,7 +285,9 @@ extension MainSplitViewController: UISplitViewControllerDelegate {
                 // Search screen has special considerations, all others can be transferred directly.
                 if tabNavigationStack.count == 1 || ((tabNavigationStack.first as? ExploreViewController)?.searchController?.isActive ?? false) {
                     exploreItem = .explore
-                    let searchVC = SearchViewController(mastodonController: mastodonController)
+                    // reuse the existing VC, if there is one
+                    let searchVC = getOrCreateNavigationStack(item: .explore).first! as! SearchViewController
+                    // load the view so that the search controller is accessible
                     searchVC.loadViewIfNeeded()
                     let explore = tabNavigationStack.first as! ExploreViewController
                     if let exploreSearchControler = explore.searchController,
@@ -316,7 +318,10 @@ extension MainSplitViewController: UISplitViewControllerDelegate {
                     case is ProfileDirectoryViewController:
                         exploreItem = .profileDirectory
                     default:
-                        fatalError("unhandled second-level explore screen: \(tabNavigationStack[1])")
+                        // transfer the navigation stack prepending, the existing explore VC
+                        // if there was other stuff on the explore stack, it will get discarded
+                        toPrepend = getOrCreateNavigationStack(item: .explore).first!
+                        exploreItem = .explore
                     }
                 }
                 transferNavigationStack(from: tabNavController, to: exploreItem!, skipFirst: skipFirst, prepend: toPrepend)