diff --git a/NEWS.rst b/NEWS.rst
index 348b48aa..a21863ed 100644
--- a/NEWS.rst
+++ b/NEWS.rst
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 .. default-role:: code
 
+Unreleased
+======================================================
+
+Bug Fixes
+------------------------------
+* `map-model` now calls `as-model` only once (before its own recursion),
+  and it does so unconditionally.
+
 0.7.0 (released 2024-09-22; uses Hy ≥ 1)
 ======================================================
 
diff --git a/hyrule/macrotools.hy b/hyrule/macrotools.hy
index 227b98f0..b8416913 100644
--- a/hyrule/macrotools.hy
+++ b/hyrule/macrotools.hy
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@
 
 
 (defn map-model [x f]
-  #[[Recursively apply a callback to some code. The unary function ``f`` is called on the object ``x``, converting it to a :ref:`model <hy:models>` first if it isn't one already. If the return value isn't ``None``, it's converted to a model and used as the result. But if the return value is ``None``, and ``x`` isn't a :ref:`sequential model <hy:hysequence>`, then ``x`` is used as the result instead. ::
+  #[[Recursively apply a callback to some code. The unary function ``f`` is called on the object ``x``, calling :hy:func:`hy.as-model` first. If the return value isn't ``None``, it's converted to a model and used as the result. But if the return value is ``None``, and ``x`` isn't a :ref:`sequential model <hy:hysequence>`, then ``x`` is used as the result instead. ::
 
      (defn f [x]
        (when (= x 'b)
@@ -266,14 +266,15 @@
 
   That's why the parameters of ``map-model`` are backwards compared to ``map``: in user code, ``x`` is typically a symbol or other simple form whereas ``f`` is a multi-line anonymous function.]]
 
-  (when (not (isinstance x hy.models.Object))
-    (setv x (hy.as-model x)))
+  (_map-model (hy.as-model x) f))
+
+(defn _map-model [x f]
   (cond
     (is-not (setx value (f x)) None)
       (hy.as-model value)
     (isinstance x hy.models.Sequence)
       ((type x)
-        (gfor  elem x  (map-model elem f))
+        (gfor  elem x  (_map-model elem f))
         #** (cond
           (isinstance x hy.models.FString)
             {"brackets" x.brackets}
diff --git a/tests/test_macrotools.hy b/tests/test_macrotools.hy
index 30afbba1..abcb06f4 100644
--- a/tests/test_macrotools.hy
+++ b/tests/test_macrotools.hy
@@ -132,6 +132,14 @@
           (= x "hello")  "wrong"
           (= x '"hello") "right")))
     '["right"]))
+  ; Even if the outermost layer of the input is already a model.
+  (setv seen [])
+  (map-model
+    (hy.models.List ["hello"])
+    (fn [x]
+      (.append seen (= x '["hello"]))
+      1))
+  (assert (= seen [True]))
 
   ; String and byte models aren't recursed into. (They're iterable,
   ; but not sequential models.)