diff --git a/src/crud/peer_card.py b/src/crud/peer_card.py
index fded2ad9..254cdb4e 100644
--- a/src/crud/peer_card.py
+++ b/src/crud/peer_card.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import logging
 from typing import cast
 
-from sqlalchemy import update
+from sqlalchemy import select, update
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 
 from src import models, schemas
@@ -34,10 +34,13 @@ async def get_peer_card(
     Returns:
         The peer's card text if present, otherwise None (also None if peer not found).
     """
-    result = await get_or_create_peers(
-        db, workspace_name, [schemas.PeerCreate(name=observer)]
+    peer = await db.scalar(
+        select(models.Peer)
+        .where(models.Peer.workspace_name == workspace_name)
+        .where(models.Peer.name == observer)
     )
-    peer = result.resource[0]
+    if peer is None:
+        return None
     return cast(
         list[str] | None,
         peer.internal_metadata.get(