diff --git a/Lib/test/test_warnings/__init__.py b/Lib/test/test_warnings/__init__.py
index 42c76035c38..3c52b290268 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_warnings/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_warnings/__init__.py
@@ -267,6 +267,53 @@ class FilterTests(BaseTest):
             self.module.warn_explicit(UserWarning("b"), None, "f.py", 42)
             self.assertEqual(str(w[-1].message), "b")
 
+    def test_filterwarnings_duplicate_filters(self):
+        with original_warnings.catch_warnings(module=self.module):
+            self.module.resetwarnings()
+            self.module.filterwarnings("error", category=UserWarning)
+            self.assertEqual(len(self.module.filters), 1)
+            self.module.filterwarnings("ignore", category=UserWarning)
+            self.module.filterwarnings("error", category=UserWarning)
+            self.assertEqual(
+                len(self.module.filters), 2,
+                "filterwarnings inserted duplicate filter"
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(
+                self.module.filters[0][0], "error",
+                "filterwarnings did not promote filter to "
+                "the beginning of list"
+            )
+
+    def test_simplefilter_duplicate_filters(self):
+        with original_warnings.catch_warnings(module=self.module):
+            self.module.resetwarnings()
+            self.module.simplefilter("error", category=UserWarning)
+            self.assertEqual(len(self.module.filters), 1)
+            self.module.simplefilter("ignore", category=UserWarning)
+            self.module.simplefilter("error", category=UserWarning)
+            self.assertEqual(
+                len(self.module.filters), 2,
+                "simplefilter inserted duplicate filter"
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(
+                self.module.filters[0][0], "error",
+                "simplefilter did not promote filter to the beginning of list"
+            )
+    def test_append_duplicate(self):
+        with original_warnings.catch_warnings(module=self.module,
+                record=True) as w:
+            self.module.resetwarnings()
+            self.module.simplefilter("ignore")
+            self.module.simplefilter("error", append=True)
+            self.module.simplefilter("ignore", append=True)
+            self.module.warn("test_append_duplicate", category=UserWarning)
+            self.assertEqual(len(self.module.filters), 2,
+                "simplefilter inserted duplicate filter"
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(len(w), 0,
+                "appended duplicate changed order of filters"
+            )
+
 class CFilterTests(FilterTests, unittest.TestCase):
     module = c_warnings
 
diff --git a/Lib/warnings.py b/Lib/warnings.py
index f4c8cdc4923..2b407ffed93 100644
--- a/Lib/warnings.py
+++ b/Lib/warnings.py
@@ -129,13 +129,8 @@ def filterwarnings(action, message="", category=Warning, module="", lineno=0,
     assert isinstance(module, str), "module must be a string"
     assert isinstance(lineno, int) and lineno >= 0, \
            "lineno must be an int >= 0"
-    item = (action, re.compile(message, re.I), category,
-            re.compile(module), lineno)
-    if append:
-        filters.append(item)
-    else:
-        filters.insert(0, item)
-    _filters_mutated()
+    _add_filter(action, re.compile(message, re.I), category,
+            re.compile(module), lineno, append=append)
 
 def simplefilter(action, category=Warning, lineno=0, append=False):
     """Insert a simple entry into the list of warnings filters (at the front).
@@ -151,11 +146,20 @@ def simplefilter(action, category=Warning, lineno=0, append=False):
                       "once"), "invalid action: %r" % (action,)
     assert isinstance(lineno, int) and lineno >= 0, \
            "lineno must be an int >= 0"
-    item = (action, None, category, None, lineno)
-    if append:
-        filters.append(item)
-    else:
+    _add_filter(action, None, category, None, lineno, append=append)
+
+def _add_filter(*item, append):
+    # Remove possible duplicate filters, so new one will be placed
+    # in correct place. If append=True and duplicate exists, do nothing.
+    if not append:
+        try:
+            filters.remove(item)
+        except ValueError:
+            pass
         filters.insert(0, item)
+    else:
+        if item not in filters:
+            filters.append(item)
     _filters_mutated()
 
 def resetwarnings():
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index ee30945cdb9..06cf8d986c9 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #18383: Avoid creating duplicate filters when using filterwarnings
+  and simplefilter.  Based on patch by Alex Shkop.
+
 - Issue #23026: winreg.QueryValueEx() now return an integer for REG_QWORD type.
 
 - Issue #26741: subprocess.Popen destructor now emits a ResourceWarning warning