diff --git a/lib/frenzy/task/create_item.ex b/lib/frenzy/task/create_item.ex
index c71f0e2..99f31bc 100644
--- a/lib/frenzy/task/create_item.ex
+++ b/lib/frenzy/task/create_item.ex
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ defmodule Frenzy.Task.CreateItem do
   def run(feed, entry) do
     Logger.metadata(item_task_id: generate_task_id())
 
-    url = get_real_url(entry)
+    {guid, url} = real_guid_and_url(entry)
 
     Logger.debug("Creating item for #{url}")
 
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@ defmodule Frenzy.Task.CreateItem do
       end
 
     item_params = %{
-      # fallback to url if guid isn't present
-      guid: entry.guid || url,
+      guid: guid,
       title: entry.title,
       url: url,
       date: date,
@@ -132,6 +131,12 @@ defmodule Frenzy.Task.CreateItem do
     :ok
   end
 
+  def real_guid_and_url(entry) do
+    url = get_real_url(entry)
+    # fallback to url if guid isn't present
+    {entry.guid || url, url}
+  end
+
   defp get_real_url(entry) do
     links = Enum.reject(entry.links, fn {_, rel} -> rel == "shorturl" end)
 
diff --git a/lib/frenzy/update_feeds.ex b/lib/frenzy/update_feeds.ex
index fccd189..34e6f6d 100644
--- a/lib/frenzy/update_feeds.ex
+++ b/lib/frenzy/update_feeds.ex
@@ -230,7 +230,9 @@ defmodule Frenzy.UpdateFeeds do
     end
 
     Enum.each(rss.items, fn entry ->
-      unless Item.exists?(feed.id, entry.guid) do
+      {guid, _} = CreateItem.real_guid_and_url(entry)
+
+      unless Item.exists?(feed.id, guid) do
         CreateItem.start_link(feed, entry)
       end
     end)