diff --git a/sharding/notary/notary.go b/sharding/notary/notary.go
index dd428e97a..7573ed9d3 100644
--- a/sharding/notary/notary.go
+++ b/sharding/notary/notary.go
@@ -140,6 +140,10 @@ func joinNotaryPool(c client.Client) error {
 		return errors.New("joinNotaryPool called when deposit flag was not set")
 	}
 
+	if b, err := isAccountInNotaryPool(c); b || err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	log.Info("Joining notary pool")
 	txOps, err := c.CreateTXOpts(sharding.NotaryDeposit)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/sharding/notary/notary_test.go b/sharding/notary/notary_test.go
index a32e5d6ea..21fa7d6fd 100644
--- a/sharding/notary/notary_test.go
+++ b/sharding/notary/notary_test.go
@@ -138,4 +138,20 @@ func TestJoinNotaryPool(t *testing.T) {
 	if big.NewInt(1).Cmp(numNotaries) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("Unexpected number of notaries. Got %d, wanted 1.", numNotaries)
 	}
+
+	// Trying to join while deposited should do nothing
+	err = joinNotaryPool(client)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	backend.Commit()
+
+	numNotaries, err = smc.NotaryPoolLength(&bind.CallOpts{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if big.NewInt(1).Cmp(numNotaries) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected number of notaries. Got %d, wanted 1.", numNotaries)
+	}
+
 }