diff --git a/bookwyrm/activitypub/base_activity.py b/bookwyrm/activitypub/base_activity.py
index 05e7d8a05..aa4b5b687 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/activitypub/base_activity.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/activitypub/base_activity.py
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ def resolve_remote_id(
 
 def get_representative():
     """Get or create an actor representing the instance
-    to sign requests to 'secure mastodon' servers"""
+    to sign outgoing HTTP GET requests"""
     username = f"{INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME}@{DOMAIN}"
     email = "bookwyrm@localhost"
     try:
diff --git a/bookwyrm/suggested_users.py b/bookwyrm/suggested_users.py
index 3e9bef9c4..a13ee97fd 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/suggested_users.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/suggested_users.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from opentelemetry import trace
 
 from bookwyrm import models
 from bookwyrm.redis_store import RedisStore, r
+from bookwyrm.settings import INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME
 from bookwyrm.tasks import app, SUGGESTED_USERS
 from bookwyrm.telemetry import open_telemetry
 
@@ -98,9 +99,15 @@ class SuggestedUsers(RedisStore):
             for (pk, score) in values
         ]
         # annotate users with mutuals and shared book counts
-        users = models.User.objects.filter(
-            is_active=True, bookwyrm_user=True, id__in=[pk for (pk, _) in values]
-        ).annotate(mutuals=Case(*annotations, output_field=IntegerField(), default=0))
+        users = (
+            models.User.objects.filter(
+                is_active=True, bookwyrm_user=True, id__in=[pk for (pk, _) in values]
+            )
+            .annotate(
+                mutuals=Case(*annotations, output_field=IntegerField(), default=0)
+            )
+            .exclude(localname=INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME)
+        )
         if local:
             users = users.filter(local=True)
         return users.order_by("-mutuals")[:5]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_info.html b/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_info.html
index f35c60db9..e07a7e439 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_info.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_info.html
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% load markdown %}
 {% load humanize %}
+{% load utilities %}
 
 <div class="block columns">
     <div class="column is-flex is-flex-direction-column">
@@ -13,7 +14,17 @@
             </div>
             {% endif %}
 
+            {% if user.localname|is_instance_admin %}
+            <div class="message is-warning">
+                <div class="message-body">
+                    {% trans "This account is the instance actor for signing HTTP requests." %}
+                </div>
+            </div>
+            {% else %}
             <p class="mt-2"><a href="{{ user.local_path }}">{% trans "View user profile" %}</a></p>
+            {% endif %}
+
+
             {% url 'settings-user' user.id as url %}
             {% if not request.path == url %}
             <p class="mt-2"><a href="{{ url }}">{% trans "Go to user admin" %}</a></p>
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_moderation_actions.html b/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_moderation_actions.html
index 4a624a5e4..fd3e66aa8 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_moderation_actions.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/settings/users/user_moderation_actions.html
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {% load i18n %}
+{% load utilities %}
 <div class="block content">
     {% if not user.is_active and user.deactivation_reason == "self_deletion" or user.deactivation_reason == "moderator_deletion" %}
     <div class="notification is-danger">
@@ -7,77 +8,90 @@
     {% else %}
     <h3>{% trans "User Actions" %}</h3>
 
-    <div class="box">
-        <div class="is-flex">
-            {% if user.is_active %}
-            <p class="mr-1">
-                <a class="button" href="{% url 'direct-messages-user' user.username %}">{% trans "Send direct message" %}</a>
-            </p>
-            {% endif %}
+        {% if user.localname|is_instance_admin %}
+        <div class="box">
+            <div class="message is-warning">
+                <div class="message-header">
+                    <p>{% trans "This is the instance admin actor" %}</p>
+                </div>
+                <div class="message-body">
+                    <p>{% trans "You must not delete or disable this account as it is critical to the functioning of your server. This actor signs outgoing GET requests to smooth interaction with secure ActivityPub servers." %}</p>
+                    <p>{% trans "This account is not discoverable by ordinary users and does not have a profile page." %}</p>
+                </div>
+            </div>
+        </div>
+        {% else %}
+        <div class="box">
+            <div class="is-flex">
+                {% if user.is_active %}
+                <p class="mr-1">
+                    <a class="button" href="{% url 'direct-messages-user' user.username %}">{% trans "Send direct message" %}</a>
+                </p>
+                {% endif %}
 
-            {% if not user.is_active and user.deactivation_reason == "pending" %}
-            <form name="activate" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-activate-user' user.id  %}" class="mr-1">
-                {% csrf_token %}
-                <button type="submit" class="button is-success is-light">{% trans "Activate user" %}</button>
-            </form>
-            {% endif %}
-            {% if user.is_active or user.deactivation_reason == "pending" %}
-            <form name="suspend" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-report-suspend' user.id report.id %}" class="mr-1">
-                {% csrf_token %}
-                <button type="submit" class="button is-danger is-light">{% trans "Suspend user" %}</button>
-            </form>
-            {% else %}
-            <form name="unsuspend" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-report-unsuspend' user.id report.id %}" class="mr-1">
-                {% csrf_token %}
-                <button class="button">{% trans "Un-suspend user" %}</button>
-            </form>
+                {% if not user.is_active and user.deactivation_reason == "pending" %}
+                <form name="activate" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-activate-user' user.id  %}" class="mr-1">
+                    {% csrf_token %}
+                    <button type="submit" class="button is-success is-light">{% trans "Activate user" %}</button>
+                </form>
+                {% endif %}
+                {% if user.is_active or user.deactivation_reason == "pending" %}
+                <form name="suspend" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-report-suspend' user.id report.id %}" class="mr-1">
+                    {% csrf_token %}
+                    <button type="submit" class="button is-danger is-light">{% trans "Suspend user" %}</button>
+                </form>
+                {% else %}
+                <form name="unsuspend" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-report-unsuspend' user.id report.id %}" class="mr-1">
+                    {% csrf_token %}
+                    <button class="button">{% trans "Un-suspend user" %}</button>
+                </form>
+                {% endif %}
+
+                {% if user.local %}
+                <div>
+                    {% trans "Permanently delete user" as button_text %}
+                    {% include "snippets/toggle/open_button.html" with controls_text="delete_user" text=button_text class="is-danger is-light" %}
+                </div>
+                {% endif %}
+            </div>
+
+            {% if user.local %}
+            <div>
+                {% include "settings/users/delete_user_form.html" with controls_text="delete_user" class="mt-2 mb-2" %}
+            </div>
             {% endif %}
 
             {% if user.local %}
             <div>
-                {% trans "Permanently delete user" as button_text %}
-                {% include "snippets/toggle/open_button.html" with controls_text="delete_user" text=button_text class="is-danger is-light" %}
+                <form name="permission" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-user' user.id report.id %}">
+                    {% csrf_token %}
+                    <label class="label" for="id_user_group">{% trans "Access level:" %}</label>
+                    {% if group_form.non_field_errors %}
+                    {{ group_form.non_field_errors }}
+                    {% endif %}
+                    {% with group=user.groups.first %}
+                    <div class="select">
+                        <select name="groups" id="id_user_group" aria-describedby="desc_user_group">
+                            {% for value, name in group_form.fields.groups.choices %}
+                            <option value="{{ value }}" {% if name == group.name %}selected{% endif %}>
+                                {{ name|title }}
+                            </option>
+                            {% endfor %}
+                            <option value="" {% if not group %}selected{% endif %}>
+                                User
+                            </option>
+                        </select>
+                    </div>
+
+                    {% include 'snippets/form_errors.html' with errors_list=group_form.groups.errors id="desc_user_group" %}
+                    {% endwith %}
+                    <button class="button">
+                        {% trans "Save" %}
+                    </button>
+                </form>
             </div>
             {% endif %}
         </div>
-
-        {% if user.local %}
-        <div>
-            {% include "settings/users/delete_user_form.html" with controls_text="delete_user" class="mt-2 mb-2" %}
-        </div>
         {% endif %}
-
-        {% if user.local %}
-        <div>
-            <form name="permission" method="post" action="{% url 'settings-user' user.id report.id %}">
-                {% csrf_token %}
-                <label class="label" for="id_user_group">{% trans "Access level:" %}</label>
-                {% if group_form.non_field_errors %}
-                {{ group_form.non_field_errors }}
-                {% endif %}
-                {% with group=user.groups.first %}
-                <div class="select">
-                    <select name="groups" id="id_user_group" aria-describedby="desc_user_group">
-                        {% for value, name in group_form.fields.groups.choices %}
-                        <option value="{{ value }}" {% if name == group.name %}selected{% endif %}>
-                            {{ name|title }}
-                        </option>
-                        {% endfor %}
-                        <option value="" {% if not group %}selected{% endif %}>
-                            User
-                        </option>
-                    </select>
-                </div>
-
-                {% include 'snippets/form_errors.html' with errors_list=group_form.groups.errors id="desc_user_group" %}
-                {% endwith %}
-                <button class="button">
-                    {% trans "Save" %}
-                </button>
-            </form>
-        </div>
-        {% endif %}
-    </div>
-
     {% endif %}
 </div>
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py b/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
index 6df6d2183..76e5d988f 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/templatetags/utilities.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
 from django.templatetags.static import static
 
 from bookwyrm.models import User
+from bookwyrm.settings import INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME
 
 register = template.Library()
 
@@ -132,3 +133,9 @@ def get_user_permission(user):
     """given a user, return their permission level"""
 
     return user.groups.first() or "User"
+
+
+@register.filter(name="is_instance_admin")
+def is_instance_admin(localname):
+    """Returns a boolean indicating whether the user is the instance admin account"""
+    return localname == INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME
diff --git a/bookwyrm/views/get_started.py b/bookwyrm/views/get_started.py
index fdb8824fa..511a886ca 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/views/get_started.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/views/get_started.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
 from django.views import View
 
 from bookwyrm import book_search, forms, models
+from bookwyrm.settings import INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME
 from bookwyrm.suggested_users import suggested_users
 from .preferences.edit_user import save_user_form
 
@@ -108,6 +109,7 @@ class GetStartedUsers(View):
             .exclude(
                 id=request.user.id,
             )
+            .exclude(localname=INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME)
             .order_by("-similarity")[:5]
         )
         data = {"no_results": not user_results}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/views/list/lists.py b/bookwyrm/views/list/lists.py
index 2514fad58..52b65357a 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/views/list/lists.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/views/list/lists.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class SavedLists(View):
         data = {
             "lists": paginated.get_page(request.GET.get("page")),
             "list_form": forms.ListForm(),
-            "path": "/list",
+            "path": "/list/saved",
         }
         return TemplateResponse(request, "lists/lists.html", data)
 
diff --git a/bookwyrm/views/search.py b/bookwyrm/views/search.py
index 2b7303fd7..743f33f59 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/views/search.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/views/search.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from csp.decorators import csp_update
 from bookwyrm import models
 from bookwyrm.connectors import connector_manager
 from bookwyrm.book_search import search, format_search_result
-from bookwyrm.settings import PAGE_LENGTH
+from bookwyrm.settings import PAGE_LENGTH, INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME
 from bookwyrm.utils import regex
 from .helpers import is_api_request
 from .helpers import handle_remote_webfinger
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ def user_search(request):
         .filter(
             similarity__gt=0.5,
         )
+        .exclude(localname=INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME)
         .order_by("-similarity")
     )
 
diff --git a/bookwyrm/views/user.py b/bookwyrm/views/user.py
index e547925a5..ba224d671 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/views/user.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/views/user.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from django.views.decorators.http import require_POST
 
 from bookwyrm import models
 from bookwyrm.activitypub import ActivitypubResponse
-from bookwyrm.settings import PAGE_LENGTH
+from bookwyrm.settings import PAGE_LENGTH, INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME
 from .helpers import get_user_from_username, is_api_request
 
 
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ class User(View):
             return ActivitypubResponse(user.to_activity())
         # otherwise we're at a UI view
 
+        # if it's not an API request, never show the instance actor profile page
+        if user.localname == INSTANCE_ACTOR_USERNAME:
+            raise Http404()
+
         shelf_preview = []
 
         # only show shelves that should be visible