diff --git a/app/Factories/LinkFactory.php b/app/Factories/LinkFactory.php
index 2320613..14e5463 100644
--- a/app/Factories/LinkFactory.php
+++ b/app/Factories/LinkFactory.php
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ class LinkFactory {
                 looks like a shortened URL.');
         }
 
-        if (!$is_secret && (!isset($custom_ending) || $custom_ending === '') && (LinkHelper::longLinkExists($long_url) !== false)) {
+        if (!$is_secret && (!isset($custom_ending) || $custom_ending === '') && (LinkHelper::longLinkExists($long_url, $creator) !== false)) {
             // if link is not specified as secret, is non-custom, and
             // already exists in Polr, lookup the value and return
-            $existing_link = LinkHelper::longLinkExists($long_url);
+            $existing_link = LinkHelper::longLinkExists($long_url, $creator);
             return self::formatLink($existing_link);
         }
 
diff --git a/app/Helpers/LinkHelper.php b/app/Helpers/LinkHelper.php
index b876d77..5abd675 100644
--- a/app/Helpers/LinkHelper.php
+++ b/app/Helpers/LinkHelper.php
@@ -51,16 +51,30 @@ class LinkHelper {
         }
     }
 
-    static public function longLinkExists($long_url) {
+    static public function longLinkExists($long_url, $username=false) {
         /**
          * Provided a long link (string),
          * check whether the link is in the DB.
+         * If a username is provided, only search for links created by the
+         * user.
          * @return boolean
          */
-        $link = Link::longUrl($long_url)
+        $link_base = Link::longUrl($long_url)
             ->where('is_custom', 0)
-            ->where('secret_key', '')
-            ->first();
+            ->where('secret_key', '');
+
+        if (is_null($username)) {
+            // Search for links without a creator only
+            $link = $link_base->where('creator', '')->first();
+        }
+        else if (($username !== false)) {
+            // Search for links created by $username only
+            $link = $link_base->where('creator', $username)->first();
+        }
+        else {
+            // Search for links created by any user
+            $link = $link_base->first();
+        }
 
         if ($link == null) {
             return false;