diff --git a/create-k8s-chained-sessions.sh b/create-k8s-chained-sessions.sh
index 2d997fa..eab0bd1 100755
--- a/create-k8s-chained-sessions.sh
+++ b/create-k8s-chained-sessions.sh
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 # global variables
 declare PROFILE_ID
-declare CHAINED_SESSION_IDS="name,id\n"
 declare REGION='us-east-1'
 
 ###### FUNCTIONS ######
@@ -20,37 +19,53 @@ declare REGION='us-east-1'
 function createLeappSession {
     parent_session_name=$1
     chained_session_name="chained-from-${parent_session_name}"
-    echo "starting session for ${parent_session_name} to get role arn"
-    # this has funky piping because `--filter` is a fuzzy lookup and `panorama-k8s-playground` fuzzy matches `panorama-k8s-playground-2` as the first result
-    parent_session_id=$(leapp session list -x --filter="Session Name=${parent_session_name}" --no-header | sort -k2 | sed -n 1p | awk '{print $1}')
-    # start leapp session
-    leapp session start --sessionId $parent_session_id
-    # call to aws to get the role arn for `TerraformRole`
-    role_arn=$(aws iam get-role --role-name TerraformRole --query Role.Arn | tr -d '"')
-    # stop the leapp session
-    leapp session stop --sessionId $parent_session_id
 
-    # create a named profile per account so they can be used simultaneously
-    echo "creating new profile"
-    createLeappProfile $parent_session_name
+    echo "looking for existing session ${chained_session_name}"
+    chained_session_id=$(leappSessionId "$chained_session_name")
 
-    echo "creating new session"
-    # create new chained leapp session from parent
-    leapp session add --providerType aws --sessionType awsIamRoleChained \
-        --sessionName $chained_session_name --region $REGION \
-        --roleArn $role_arn --parentSessionId $parent_session_id \
-        --profileId $PROFILE_ID
-    # add session id from the new session to CHAINED_SESSION_IDS
-    chained_session_id=$(leapp session list --columns=ID --filter="Session Name=${chained_session_name}" --no-header)
-    CHAINED_SESSION_IDS="${CHAINED_SESSION_IDS}${chained_session_name},${chained_session_id}\n"
+    if [[ -z "${chained_session_id}" ]]; then
+        echo "no existing session found; starting session for ${parent_session_name} to get role arn"
+        parent_session_id=$(leappSessionId "$parent_session_name")
+        # start leapp session
+        leapp session start --sessionId "$parent_session_id"
+        # call to aws to get the role arn for `TerraformRole`
+        role_arn=$(aws iam get-role --role-name TerraformRole --query Role.Arn | tr -d '"')
+        # stop the leapp session
+        leapp session stop --sessionId "$parent_session_id"
+        # create a named profile per account so they can be used simultaneously
+        echo "creating new profile"
+        createLeappProfile "$parent_session_name"
+        echo "creating new session"
+        # create new chained leapp session from parent
+        leapp session add --providerType aws --sessionType awsIamRoleChained \
+            --sessionName "$chained_session_name" --region $REGION \
+            --roleArn "$role_arn" --parentSessionId "$parent_session_id" \
+            --profileId "$PROFILE_ID"
+        # find the ID of the session we just created
+        chained_session_id=$(leappSessionId "$chained_session_name")
+    else
+        echo "existing session found"
+    fi
+}
+
+# @return the Leapp session ID of the session whose name is the first argument
+#   to this function, if one exists.
+function leappSessionId {
+    # The ^ and $ in the session filter are regex anchors to ensure we don't
+    # match e.g. both `chained-from-panorama-k8s-playground` and
+    # `chained-from-panorama-k8s-playground-2`.
+    leapp session list --no-truncate --no-header --columns=ID --filter="Session Name=^${1}$"
 }
 
 # function to create a leapp profile to associate with the chained k8s sessions
 # stores the new profile id in PROFILE_ID
 function createLeappProfile {
+    # The ^ and $ in the session filter are regex anchors to ensure we don't
+    # match e.g. both `kubectl-access-role-panorama-k8s-playground` and
+    # `kubectl-access-role-panorama-k8s-playground-2`.
     profile_name="kubectl-access-role-${1}"
-    leapp profile create --profileName $profile_name
-    PROFILE_ID=$(leapp profile list --columns=ID --filter="Profile Name=${profile_name}" --no-header)
+    leapp profile create --profileName "$profile_name"
+    PROFILE_ID=$(leapp profile list --no-truncate --no-header --columns=ID --filter="Profile Name=^${profile_name}$")
 }
 #
 ###### END FUNCTIONS ######
@@ -61,8 +76,5 @@ PARENT_SESSION_NAMES="panorama-k8s-playground panorama-k8s-playground-2 panorama
 
 for session in $PARENT_SESSION_NAMES
 do
-    createLeappSession $session
+    createLeappSession "$session"
 done
-
-echo "all sessions created. store IDs for future use:"
-echo -e $CHAINED_SESSION_IDS