diff --git a/Tusker/Controllers/MastodonController.swift b/Tusker/Controllers/MastodonController.swift
index 010b6db8..2c02d7be 100644
--- a/Tusker/Controllers/MastodonController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Controllers/MastodonController.swift
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ class MastodonController: ObservableObject {
         }
     }
     
+    // todo: this should dedup requests
     func getOwnInstance(completion: ((Instance) -> Void)? = nil) {
         if let instance = self.instance {
             completion?(instance)
diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Explore/ExploreViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Explore/ExploreViewController.swift
index 1ff72b92..66c5de3b 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Explore/ExploreViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Explore/ExploreViewController.swift
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ class ExploreViewController: UIViewController, UICollectionViewDelegate {
         dataSource = createDataSource()
         applyInitialSnapshot()
         
+        if mastodonController.instance == nil {
+            mastodonController.getOwnInstance(completion: self.ownInstanceLoaded(_:))
+        }
+        
         resultsController = SearchResultsViewController(mastodonController: mastodonController)
         resultsController.exploreNavigationController = self.navigationController!
         searchController = UISearchController(searchResultsController: resultsController)
@@ -132,9 +136,12 @@ class ExploreViewController: UIViewController, UICollectionViewDelegate {
         let account = mastodonController.accountInfo!
         
         var snapshot = NSDiffableDataSourceSnapshot<Section, Item>()
-        snapshot.appendSections(Section.allCases)
+        snapshot.appendSections(Section.allCases.filter { $0 != .discover })
         snapshot.appendItems([.bookmarks], toSection: .bookmarks)
-        snapshot.appendItems([.trendingTags, .profileDirectory], toSection: .discover)
+        if case .mastodon = mastodonController.instance?.instanceType {
+            snapshot.insertSections([.discover], afterSection: .bookmarks)
+            snapshot.appendItems([.trendingTags, .profileDirectory], toSection: .discover)
+        }
         snapshot.appendItems([.addList], toSection: .lists)
         snapshot.appendItems(SavedDataManager.shared.sortedHashtags(for: account).map { .savedHashtag($0) }, toSection: .savedHashtags)
         snapshot.appendItems([.addSavedHashtag], toSection: .savedHashtags)
@@ -145,6 +152,15 @@ class ExploreViewController: UIViewController, UICollectionViewDelegate {
         reloadLists()
     }
     
+    private func ownInstanceLoaded(_ instance: Instance) {
+        var snapshot = self.dataSource.snapshot()
+        if case .mastodon = instance.instanceType {
+            snapshot.insertSections([.discover], afterSection: .bookmarks)
+            snapshot.appendItems([.trendingTags, .profileDirectory], toSection: .discover)
+        }
+        self.dataSource.apply(snapshot)
+    }
+    
     private func reloadLists() {
         let request = Client.getLists()
         mastodonController.run(request) { (response) in
diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSidebarViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSidebarViewController.swift
index 32ab59a0..7eef7c8f 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSidebarViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Main/MainSidebarViewController.swift
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ class MainSidebarViewController: UIViewController {
         
         applyInitialSnapshot()
         
+        if mastodonController.instance == nil {
+            mastodonController.getOwnInstance(completion: self.ownInstanceLoaded(_:))
+        }
+        
         select(item: .tab(.timelines), animated: false)
         
         NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(reloadSavedHashtags), name: .savedHashtagsChanged, object: nil)
@@ -130,7 +134,7 @@ class MainSidebarViewController: UIViewController {
 
     private func applyInitialSnapshot() {
         var snapshot = NSDiffableDataSourceSnapshot<Section, Item>()
-        snapshot.appendSections(Section.allCases)
+        snapshot.appendSections(Section.allCases.filter { $0 != .discover })
         snapshot.appendItems([
             .tab(.timelines),
             .tab(.notifications),
@@ -141,10 +145,13 @@ class MainSidebarViewController: UIViewController {
         snapshot.appendItems([
             .tab(.compose)
         ], toSection: .compose)
-        snapshot.appendItems([
-            .trendingTags,
-            .profileDirectory,
-        ], toSection: .discover)
+        if case .mastodon = mastodonController.instance?.instanceType {
+            snapshot.insertSections([.discover], afterSection: .compose)
+            snapshot.appendItems([
+                .trendingTags,
+                .profileDirectory,
+            ], toSection: .discover)
+        }
         dataSource.apply(snapshot, animatingDifferences: false)
         
         reloadLists()
@@ -152,6 +159,18 @@ class MainSidebarViewController: UIViewController {
         reloadSavedInstances()
     }
     
+    private func ownInstanceLoaded(_ instance: Instance) {
+        var snapshot = self.dataSource.snapshot()
+        if case .mastodon = mastodonController.instance?.instanceType {
+            snapshot.insertSections([.discover], afterSection: .compose)
+            snapshot.appendItems([
+                .trendingTags,
+                .profileDirectory,
+            ], toSection: .discover)
+        }
+        dataSource.apply(snapshot, animatingDifferences: false)
+    }
+    
     private func reloadLists() {
         let request = Client.getLists()
         mastodonController.run(request) { [weak self] (response) in