diff --git a/app/controllers/v1/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/v1/users_controller.rb
index 764c567644d66ebd14a832419d3c8f4ea884f158..3b7344b50668f5e348975ea4735288b316a5fcba 100644
--- a/app/controllers/v1/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/v1/users_controller.rb
@@ -100,7 +100,9 @@ class V1::UsersController < ApplicationController
   # POST /v1/users/:id/add_submitter
   # POST /v1/users/:id/add_submitter.json
   def add_submitter
-    if !approve_params.to_s.blank?
+    if @user.is_submitter?
+      render status: :forbidden
+    elsif !approve_params.to_s.blank?
       if approve_params
         @user.submitter_request = User.submitter_requests[:accepted]
         @user.roles << Role.where(name: "submitter")