diff --git a/mobile/openapi/lib/api/search_api.dart b/mobile/openapi/lib/api/search_api.dart
index 3b981e0ccb5bb..985029f106d27 100644
--- a/mobile/openapi/lib/api/search_api.dart
+++ b/mobile/openapi/lib/api/search_api.dart
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ class SearchApi {
   /// Parameters:
   ///
   /// * [RandomSearchDto] randomSearchDto (required):
-  Future<SearchResponseDto?> searchRandom(RandomSearchDto randomSearchDto,) async {
+  Future<List<AssetResponseDto>?> searchRandom(RandomSearchDto randomSearchDto,) async {
     final response = await searchRandomWithHttpInfo(randomSearchDto,);
     if (response.statusCode >= HttpStatus.badRequest) {
       throw ApiException(response.statusCode, await _decodeBodyBytes(response));
@@ -392,8 +392,11 @@ class SearchApi {
     // At the time of writing this, `dart:convert` will throw an "Unexpected end of input"
     // FormatException when trying to decode an empty string.
     if (response.body.isNotEmpty && response.statusCode != HttpStatus.noContent) {
-      return await apiClient.deserializeAsync(await _decodeBodyBytes(response), 'SearchResponseDto',) as SearchResponseDto;
-    
+      final responseBody = await _decodeBodyBytes(response);
+      return (await apiClient.deserializeAsync(responseBody, 'List<AssetResponseDto>') as List)
+        .cast<AssetResponseDto>()
+        .toList(growable: false);
+
     }
     return null;
   }
diff --git a/mobile/openapi/lib/model/random_search_dto.dart b/mobile/openapi/lib/model/random_search_dto.dart
index 419cb451e2a02..3fcab05bbb275 100644
--- a/mobile/openapi/lib/model/random_search_dto.dart
+++ b/mobile/openapi/lib/model/random_search_dto.dart
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ class RandomSearchDto {
     this.libraryId,
     this.make,
     this.model,
-    this.page,
     this.personIds = const [],
     this.size,
     this.state,
@@ -145,15 +144,6 @@ class RandomSearchDto {
 
   String? model;
 
-  /// Minimum value: 1
-  ///
-  /// Please note: This property should have been non-nullable! Since the specification file
-  /// does not include a default value (using the "default:" property), however, the generated
-  /// source code must fall back to having a nullable type.
-  /// Consider adding a "default:" property in the specification file to hide this note.
-  ///
-  num? page;
-
   List<String> personIds;
 
   /// Minimum value: 1
@@ -276,7 +266,6 @@ class RandomSearchDto {
     other.libraryId == libraryId &&
     other.make == make &&
     other.model == model &&
-    other.page == page &&
     _deepEquality.equals(other.personIds, personIds) &&
     other.size == size &&
     other.state == state &&
@@ -312,7 +301,6 @@ class RandomSearchDto {
     (libraryId == null ? 0 : libraryId!.hashCode) +
     (make == null ? 0 : make!.hashCode) +
     (model == null ? 0 : model!.hashCode) +
-    (page == null ? 0 : page!.hashCode) +
     (personIds.hashCode) +
     (size == null ? 0 : size!.hashCode) +
     (state == null ? 0 : state!.hashCode) +
@@ -330,7 +318,7 @@ class RandomSearchDto {
     (withStacked == null ? 0 : withStacked!.hashCode);
 
   @override
-  String toString() => 'RandomSearchDto[city=$city, country=$country, createdAfter=$createdAfter, createdBefore=$createdBefore, deviceId=$deviceId, isArchived=$isArchived, isEncoded=$isEncoded, isFavorite=$isFavorite, isMotion=$isMotion, isNotInAlbum=$isNotInAlbum, isOffline=$isOffline, isVisible=$isVisible, lensModel=$lensModel, libraryId=$libraryId, make=$make, model=$model, page=$page, personIds=$personIds, size=$size, state=$state, takenAfter=$takenAfter, takenBefore=$takenBefore, trashedAfter=$trashedAfter, trashedBefore=$trashedBefore, type=$type, updatedAfter=$updatedAfter, updatedBefore=$updatedBefore, withArchived=$withArchived, withDeleted=$withDeleted, withExif=$withExif, withPeople=$withPeople, withStacked=$withStacked]';
+  String toString() => 'RandomSearchDto[city=$city, country=$country, createdAfter=$createdAfter, createdBefore=$createdBefore, deviceId=$deviceId, isArchived=$isArchived, isEncoded=$isEncoded, isFavorite=$isFavorite, isMotion=$isMotion, isNotInAlbum=$isNotInAlbum, isOffline=$isOffline, isVisible=$isVisible, lensModel=$lensModel, libraryId=$libraryId, make=$make, model=$model, personIds=$personIds, size=$size, state=$state, takenAfter=$takenAfter, takenBefore=$takenBefore, trashedAfter=$trashedAfter, trashedBefore=$trashedBefore, type=$type, updatedAfter=$updatedAfter, updatedBefore=$updatedBefore, withArchived=$withArchived, withDeleted=$withDeleted, withExif=$withExif, withPeople=$withPeople, withStacked=$withStacked]';
 
   Map<String, dynamic> toJson() {
     final json = <String, dynamic>{};
@@ -413,11 +401,6 @@ class RandomSearchDto {
       json[r'model'] = this.model;
     } else {
     //  json[r'model'] = null;
-    }
-    if (this.page != null) {
-      json[r'page'] = this.page;
-    } else {
-    //  json[r'page'] = null;
     }
       json[r'personIds'] = this.personIds;
     if (this.size != null) {
@@ -514,7 +497,6 @@ class RandomSearchDto {
         libraryId: mapValueOfType<String>(json, r'libraryId'),
         make: mapValueOfType<String>(json, r'make'),
         model: mapValueOfType<String>(json, r'model'),
-        page: num.parse('${json[r'page']}'),
         personIds: json[r'personIds'] is Iterable
             ? (json[r'personIds'] as Iterable).cast<String>().toList(growable: false)
             : const [],
diff --git a/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json b/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json
index 1077762ac3a56..970230f4e3d3e 100644
--- a/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json
+++ b/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json
@@ -4615,7 +4615,10 @@
             "content": {
               "application/json": {
                 "schema": {
-                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/SearchResponseDto"
+                  "items": {
+                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/AssetResponseDto"
+                  },
+                  "type": "array"
                 }
               }
             },
@@ -10463,10 +10466,6 @@
             "nullable": true,
             "type": "string"
           },
-          "page": {
-            "minimum": 1,
-            "type": "number"
-          },
           "personIds": {
             "items": {
               "format": "uuid",
diff --git a/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts b/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts
index e88f431e8c787..aa3501079bf86 100644
--- a/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts
+++ b/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts
@@ -852,7 +852,6 @@ export type RandomSearchDto = {
     libraryId?: string | null;
     make?: string;
     model?: string | null;
-    page?: number;
     personIds?: string[];
     size?: number;
     state?: string | null;
@@ -2523,7 +2522,7 @@ export function searchRandom({ randomSearchDto }: {
 }, opts?: Oazapfts.RequestOpts) {
     return oazapfts.ok(oazapfts.fetchJson<{
         status: 200;
-        data: SearchResponseDto;
+        data: AssetResponseDto[];
     }>("/search/random", oazapfts.json({
         ...opts,
         method: "POST",
diff --git a/server/src/controllers/search.controller.ts b/server/src/controllers/search.controller.ts
index 5b6deb2981bc5..9fdb2746fc1d3 100644
--- a/server/src/controllers/search.controller.ts
+++ b/server/src/controllers/search.controller.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ export class SearchController {
   @Post('random')
   @HttpCode(HttpStatus.OK)
   @Authenticated()
-  searchRandom(@Auth() auth: AuthDto, @Body() dto: RandomSearchDto): Promise<SearchResponseDto> {
+  searchRandom(@Auth() auth: AuthDto, @Body() dto: RandomSearchDto): Promise<AssetResponseDto[]> {
     return this.service.searchRandom(auth, dto);
   }
 
diff --git a/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts b/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts
index ddc6c192c5faa..5c5dce1a1190a 100644
--- a/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts
+++ b/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts
@@ -99,12 +99,6 @@ class BaseSearchDto {
   @Optional({ nullable: true, emptyToNull: true })
   lensModel?: string | null;
 
-  @IsInt()
-  @Min(1)
-  @Type(() => Number)
-  @Optional()
-  page?: number;
-
   @IsInt()
   @Min(1)
   @Max(1000)
@@ -170,12 +164,24 @@ export class MetadataSearchDto extends RandomSearchDto {
   @Optional()
   @ApiProperty({ enumName: 'AssetOrder', enum: AssetOrder })
   order?: AssetOrder;
+
+  @IsInt()
+  @Min(1)
+  @Type(() => Number)
+  @Optional()
+  page?: number;
 }
 
 export class SmartSearchDto extends BaseSearchDto {
   @IsString()
   @IsNotEmpty()
   query!: string;
+
+  @IsInt()
+  @Min(1)
+  @Type(() => Number)
+  @Optional()
+  page?: number;
 }
 
 export class SearchPlacesDto {
diff --git a/server/src/interfaces/search.interface.ts b/server/src/interfaces/search.interface.ts
index 0ba524c00a272..63d74a35fb626 100644
--- a/server/src/interfaces/search.interface.ts
+++ b/server/src/interfaces/search.interface.ts
@@ -116,7 +116,6 @@ export interface SearchPeopleOptions {
 
 export interface SearchOrderOptions {
   orderDirection?: 'ASC' | 'DESC';
-  random?: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface SearchPaginationOptions {
@@ -177,6 +176,7 @@ export interface ISearchRepository {
   searchSmart(pagination: SearchPaginationOptions, options: SmartSearchOptions): Paginated<AssetEntity>;
   searchDuplicates(options: AssetDuplicateSearch): Promise<AssetDuplicateResult[]>;
   searchFaces(search: FaceEmbeddingSearch): Promise<FaceSearchResult[]>;
+  searchRandom(size: number, options: AssetSearchOptions): Promise<AssetEntity[]>;
   upsert(assetId: string, embedding: number[]): Promise<void>;
   searchPlaces(placeName: string): Promise<GeodataPlacesEntity[]>;
   getAssetsByCity(userIds: string[]): Promise<AssetEntity[]>;
diff --git a/server/src/queries/search.repository.sql b/server/src/queries/search.repository.sql
index 58b2999012cf7..cd9a84b016d0f 100644
--- a/server/src/queries/search.repository.sql
+++ b/server/src/queries/search.repository.sql
@@ -77,10 +77,11 @@ FROM
         "asset"."fileCreatedAt" >= $1
         AND "exifInfo"."lensModel" = $2
         AND 1 = 1
+        AND "asset"."ownerId" IN ($3)
         AND 1 = 1
         AND (
-          "asset"."isFavorite" = $3
-          AND "asset"."isArchived" = $4
+          "asset"."isFavorite" = $4
+          AND "asset"."isArchived" = $5
         )
       )
       AND ("asset"."deletedAt" IS NULL)
@@ -91,6 +92,190 @@ ORDER BY
 LIMIT
   101
 
+-- SearchRepository.searchRandom
+SELECT DISTINCT
+  "distinctAlias"."asset_id" AS "ids_asset_id",
+  "distinctAlias"."asset_id"
+FROM
+  (
+    SELECT
+      "asset"."id" AS "asset_id",
+      "asset"."deviceAssetId" AS "asset_deviceAssetId",
+      "asset"."ownerId" AS "asset_ownerId",
+      "asset"."libraryId" AS "asset_libraryId",
+      "asset"."deviceId" AS "asset_deviceId",
+      "asset"."type" AS "asset_type",
+      "asset"."status" AS "asset_status",
+      "asset"."originalPath" AS "asset_originalPath",
+      "asset"."thumbhash" AS "asset_thumbhash",
+      "asset"."encodedVideoPath" AS "asset_encodedVideoPath",
+      "asset"."createdAt" AS "asset_createdAt",
+      "asset"."updatedAt" AS "asset_updatedAt",
+      "asset"."deletedAt" AS "asset_deletedAt",
+      "asset"."fileCreatedAt" AS "asset_fileCreatedAt",
+      "asset"."localDateTime" AS "asset_localDateTime",
+      "asset"."fileModifiedAt" AS "asset_fileModifiedAt",
+      "asset"."isFavorite" AS "asset_isFavorite",
+      "asset"."isArchived" AS "asset_isArchived",
+      "asset"."isExternal" AS "asset_isExternal",
+      "asset"."isOffline" AS "asset_isOffline",
+      "asset"."checksum" AS "asset_checksum",
+      "asset"."duration" AS "asset_duration",
+      "asset"."isVisible" AS "asset_isVisible",
+      "asset"."livePhotoVideoId" AS "asset_livePhotoVideoId",
+      "asset"."originalFileName" AS "asset_originalFileName",
+      "asset"."sidecarPath" AS "asset_sidecarPath",
+      "asset"."stackId" AS "asset_stackId",
+      "asset"."duplicateId" AS "asset_duplicateId",
+      "stack"."id" AS "stack_id",
+      "stack"."ownerId" AS "stack_ownerId",
+      "stack"."primaryAssetId" AS "stack_primaryAssetId",
+      "stackedAssets"."id" AS "stackedAssets_id",
+      "stackedAssets"."deviceAssetId" AS "stackedAssets_deviceAssetId",
+      "stackedAssets"."ownerId" AS "stackedAssets_ownerId",
+      "stackedAssets"."libraryId" AS "stackedAssets_libraryId",
+      "stackedAssets"."deviceId" AS "stackedAssets_deviceId",
+      "stackedAssets"."type" AS "stackedAssets_type",
+      "stackedAssets"."status" AS "stackedAssets_status",
+      "stackedAssets"."originalPath" AS "stackedAssets_originalPath",
+      "stackedAssets"."thumbhash" AS "stackedAssets_thumbhash",
+      "stackedAssets"."encodedVideoPath" AS "stackedAssets_encodedVideoPath",
+      "stackedAssets"."createdAt" AS "stackedAssets_createdAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."updatedAt" AS "stackedAssets_updatedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."deletedAt" AS "stackedAssets_deletedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."fileCreatedAt" AS "stackedAssets_fileCreatedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."localDateTime" AS "stackedAssets_localDateTime",
+      "stackedAssets"."fileModifiedAt" AS "stackedAssets_fileModifiedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."isFavorite" AS "stackedAssets_isFavorite",
+      "stackedAssets"."isArchived" AS "stackedAssets_isArchived",
+      "stackedAssets"."isExternal" AS "stackedAssets_isExternal",
+      "stackedAssets"."isOffline" AS "stackedAssets_isOffline",
+      "stackedAssets"."checksum" AS "stackedAssets_checksum",
+      "stackedAssets"."duration" AS "stackedAssets_duration",
+      "stackedAssets"."isVisible" AS "stackedAssets_isVisible",
+      "stackedAssets"."livePhotoVideoId" AS "stackedAssets_livePhotoVideoId",
+      "stackedAssets"."originalFileName" AS "stackedAssets_originalFileName",
+      "stackedAssets"."sidecarPath" AS "stackedAssets_sidecarPath",
+      "stackedAssets"."stackId" AS "stackedAssets_stackId",
+      "stackedAssets"."duplicateId" AS "stackedAssets_duplicateId"
+    FROM
+      "assets" "asset"
+      LEFT JOIN "exif" "exifInfo" ON "exifInfo"."assetId" = "asset"."id"
+      LEFT JOIN "asset_stack" "stack" ON "stack"."id" = "asset"."stackId"
+      LEFT JOIN "assets" "stackedAssets" ON "stackedAssets"."stackId" = "stack"."id"
+      AND ("stackedAssets"."deletedAt" IS NULL)
+    WHERE
+      (
+        "asset"."fileCreatedAt" >= $1
+        AND "exifInfo"."lensModel" = $2
+        AND 1 = 1
+        AND "asset"."ownerId" IN ($3)
+        AND 1 = 1
+        AND (
+          "asset"."isFavorite" = $4
+          AND "asset"."isArchived" = $5
+        )
+        AND "asset"."id" > $6
+      )
+      AND ("asset"."deletedAt" IS NULL)
+  ) "distinctAlias"
+ORDER BY
+  "distinctAlias"."asset_id" ASC,
+  "asset_id" ASC
+LIMIT
+  100
+SELECT DISTINCT
+  "distinctAlias"."asset_id" AS "ids_asset_id",
+  "distinctAlias"."asset_id"
+FROM
+  (
+    SELECT
+      "asset"."id" AS "asset_id",
+      "asset"."deviceAssetId" AS "asset_deviceAssetId",
+      "asset"."ownerId" AS "asset_ownerId",
+      "asset"."libraryId" AS "asset_libraryId",
+      "asset"."deviceId" AS "asset_deviceId",
+      "asset"."type" AS "asset_type",
+      "asset"."status" AS "asset_status",
+      "asset"."originalPath" AS "asset_originalPath",
+      "asset"."thumbhash" AS "asset_thumbhash",
+      "asset"."encodedVideoPath" AS "asset_encodedVideoPath",
+      "asset"."createdAt" AS "asset_createdAt",
+      "asset"."updatedAt" AS "asset_updatedAt",
+      "asset"."deletedAt" AS "asset_deletedAt",
+      "asset"."fileCreatedAt" AS "asset_fileCreatedAt",
+      "asset"."localDateTime" AS "asset_localDateTime",
+      "asset"."fileModifiedAt" AS "asset_fileModifiedAt",
+      "asset"."isFavorite" AS "asset_isFavorite",
+      "asset"."isArchived" AS "asset_isArchived",
+      "asset"."isExternal" AS "asset_isExternal",
+      "asset"."isOffline" AS "asset_isOffline",
+      "asset"."checksum" AS "asset_checksum",
+      "asset"."duration" AS "asset_duration",
+      "asset"."isVisible" AS "asset_isVisible",
+      "asset"."livePhotoVideoId" AS "asset_livePhotoVideoId",
+      "asset"."originalFileName" AS "asset_originalFileName",
+      "asset"."sidecarPath" AS "asset_sidecarPath",
+      "asset"."stackId" AS "asset_stackId",
+      "asset"."duplicateId" AS "asset_duplicateId",
+      "stack"."id" AS "stack_id",
+      "stack"."ownerId" AS "stack_ownerId",
+      "stack"."primaryAssetId" AS "stack_primaryAssetId",
+      "stackedAssets"."id" AS "stackedAssets_id",
+      "stackedAssets"."deviceAssetId" AS "stackedAssets_deviceAssetId",
+      "stackedAssets"."ownerId" AS "stackedAssets_ownerId",
+      "stackedAssets"."libraryId" AS "stackedAssets_libraryId",
+      "stackedAssets"."deviceId" AS "stackedAssets_deviceId",
+      "stackedAssets"."type" AS "stackedAssets_type",
+      "stackedAssets"."status" AS "stackedAssets_status",
+      "stackedAssets"."originalPath" AS "stackedAssets_originalPath",
+      "stackedAssets"."thumbhash" AS "stackedAssets_thumbhash",
+      "stackedAssets"."encodedVideoPath" AS "stackedAssets_encodedVideoPath",
+      "stackedAssets"."createdAt" AS "stackedAssets_createdAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."updatedAt" AS "stackedAssets_updatedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."deletedAt" AS "stackedAssets_deletedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."fileCreatedAt" AS "stackedAssets_fileCreatedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."localDateTime" AS "stackedAssets_localDateTime",
+      "stackedAssets"."fileModifiedAt" AS "stackedAssets_fileModifiedAt",
+      "stackedAssets"."isFavorite" AS "stackedAssets_isFavorite",
+      "stackedAssets"."isArchived" AS "stackedAssets_isArchived",
+      "stackedAssets"."isExternal" AS "stackedAssets_isExternal",
+      "stackedAssets"."isOffline" AS "stackedAssets_isOffline",
+      "stackedAssets"."checksum" AS "stackedAssets_checksum",
+      "stackedAssets"."duration" AS "stackedAssets_duration",
+      "stackedAssets"."isVisible" AS "stackedAssets_isVisible",
+      "stackedAssets"."livePhotoVideoId" AS "stackedAssets_livePhotoVideoId",
+      "stackedAssets"."originalFileName" AS "stackedAssets_originalFileName",
+      "stackedAssets"."sidecarPath" AS "stackedAssets_sidecarPath",
+      "stackedAssets"."stackId" AS "stackedAssets_stackId",
+      "stackedAssets"."duplicateId" AS "stackedAssets_duplicateId"
+    FROM
+      "assets" "asset"
+      LEFT JOIN "exif" "exifInfo" ON "exifInfo"."assetId" = "asset"."id"
+      LEFT JOIN "asset_stack" "stack" ON "stack"."id" = "asset"."stackId"
+      LEFT JOIN "assets" "stackedAssets" ON "stackedAssets"."stackId" = "stack"."id"
+      AND ("stackedAssets"."deletedAt" IS NULL)
+    WHERE
+      (
+        "asset"."fileCreatedAt" >= $1
+        AND "exifInfo"."lensModel" = $2
+        AND 1 = 1
+        AND "asset"."ownerId" IN ($3)
+        AND 1 = 1
+        AND (
+          "asset"."isFavorite" = $4
+          AND "asset"."isArchived" = $5
+        )
+        AND "asset"."id" < $6
+      )
+      AND ("asset"."deletedAt" IS NULL)
+  ) "distinctAlias"
+ORDER BY
+  "distinctAlias"."asset_id" ASC,
+  "asset_id" ASC
+LIMIT
+  100
+
 -- SearchRepository.searchSmart
 START TRANSACTION
 SET
diff --git a/server/src/repositories/search.repository.ts b/server/src/repositories/search.repository.ts
index 60694b6bfe800..cb80c8d2f1c4e 100644
--- a/server/src/repositories/search.repository.ts
+++ b/server/src/repositories/search.repository.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Inject, Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
+import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
 import { getVectorExtension } from 'src/database.config';
 import { DummyValue, GenerateSql } from 'src/decorators';
 import { AssetFaceEntity } from 'src/entities/asset-face.entity';
@@ -63,22 +64,15 @@ export class SearchRepository implements ISearchRepository {
       {
         takenAfter: DummyValue.DATE,
         lensModel: DummyValue.STRING,
-        ownerId: DummyValue.UUID,
         withStacked: true,
         isFavorite: true,
-        ownerIds: [DummyValue.UUID],
+        userIds: [DummyValue.UUID],
       },
     ],
   })
   async searchMetadata(pagination: SearchPaginationOptions, options: AssetSearchOptions): Paginated<AssetEntity> {
     let builder = this.assetRepository.createQueryBuilder('asset');
-    builder = searchAssetBuilder(builder, options);
-    builder.orderBy('asset.fileCreatedAt', options.orderDirection ?? 'DESC');
-
-    if (options.random) {
-      // TODO replace with complicated SQL magic after kysely migration
-      builder.addSelect('RANDOM() as r').orderBy('r');
-    }
+    builder = searchAssetBuilder(builder, options).orderBy('asset.fileCreatedAt', options.orderDirection ?? 'DESC');
 
     return paginatedBuilder<AssetEntity>(builder, {
       mode: PaginationMode.SKIP_TAKE,
@@ -87,6 +81,35 @@ export class SearchRepository implements ISearchRepository {
     });
   }
 
+  @GenerateSql({
+    params: [
+      100,
+      {
+        takenAfter: DummyValue.DATE,
+        lensModel: DummyValue.STRING,
+        withStacked: true,
+        isFavorite: true,
+        userIds: [DummyValue.UUID],
+      },
+    ],
+  })
+  async searchRandom(size: number, options: AssetSearchOptions): Promise<AssetEntity[]> {
+    const builder1 = searchAssetBuilder(this.assetRepository.createQueryBuilder('asset'), options);
+    const builder2 = builder1.clone();
+
+    const uuid = randomUUID();
+    builder1.andWhere('asset.id > :uuid', { uuid }).orderBy('asset.id').take(size);
+    builder2.andWhere('asset.id < :uuid', { uuid }).orderBy('asset.id').take(size);
+
+    const [assets1, assets2] = await Promise.all([builder1.getMany(), builder2.getMany()]);
+    const missingCount = size - assets1.length;
+    for (let i = 0; i < missingCount && i < assets2.length; i++) {
+      assets1.push(assets2[i]);
+    }
+
+    return assets1;
+  }
+
   private createPersonFilter(builder: SelectQueryBuilder<AssetFaceEntity>, personIds: string[]) {
     return builder
       .select(`${builder.alias}."assetId"`)
diff --git a/server/src/services/search.service.ts b/server/src/services/search.service.ts
index dc6e71f345943..c3cc5399c8d73 100644
--- a/server/src/services/search.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/search.service.ts
@@ -94,20 +94,10 @@ export class SearchService {
     return this.mapResponse(items, hasNextPage ? (page + 1).toString() : null, { auth });
   }
 
-  async searchRandom(auth: AuthDto, dto: RandomSearchDto): Promise<SearchResponseDto> {
+  async searchRandom(auth: AuthDto, dto: RandomSearchDto): Promise<AssetResponseDto[]> {
     const userIds = await this.getUserIdsToSearch(auth);
-    const page = dto.page ?? 1;
-    const size = dto.size || 250;
-    const { hasNextPage, items } = await this.searchRepository.searchMetadata(
-      { page, size },
-      {
-        ...dto,
-        userIds,
-        random: true,
-      },
-    );
-
-    return this.mapResponse(items, hasNextPage ? (page + 1).toString() : null, { auth });
+    const items = await this.searchRepository.searchRandom(dto.size || 250, { ...dto, userIds });
+    return items.map((item) => mapAsset(item, { auth }));
   }
 
   async searchSmart(auth: AuthDto, dto: SmartSearchDto): Promise<SearchResponseDto> {
diff --git a/server/src/utils/database.ts b/server/src/utils/database.ts
index 5f4577f4df59b..498dd3456b932 100644
--- a/server/src/utils/database.ts
+++ b/server/src/utils/database.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ export function searchAssetBuilder(
   }
 
   if (withPeople) {
-    builder.leftJoinAndSelect(`${builder.alias}.person`, 'person');
+    builder.leftJoinAndSelect('faces.person', 'person');
   }
 
   if (withSmartInfo) {
diff --git a/server/test/repositories/search.repository.mock.ts b/server/test/repositories/search.repository.mock.ts
index 5426316b650ef..be0e753e30577 100644
--- a/server/test/repositories/search.repository.mock.ts
+++ b/server/test/repositories/search.repository.mock.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export const newSearchRepositoryMock = (): Mocked<ISearchRepository> => {
     searchSmart: vitest.fn(),
     searchDuplicates: vitest.fn(),
     searchFaces: vitest.fn(),
+    searchRandom: vitest.fn(),
     upsert: vitest.fn(),
     searchPlaces: vitest.fn(),
     getAssetsByCity: vitest.fn(),