diff --git a/src/controllers/helpers.js b/src/controllers/helpers.js
index 5981cdc47a..0f6b5b4a34 100644
--- a/src/controllers/helpers.js
+++ b/src/controllers/helpers.js
@@ -58,9 +58,10 @@ helpers.buildQueryString = function (query, key, value) {
 
 helpers.addLinkTags = function (params) {
 	params.res.locals.linkTags = params.res.locals.linkTags || [];
+	const page = params.page > 1 ? `?page=${params.page}` : '';
 	params.res.locals.linkTags.push({
 		rel: 'canonical',
-		href: `${url}/${params.url}`,
+		href: `${url}/${params.url}${page}`,
 	});
 
 	params.tags.forEach((rel) => {
diff --git a/src/controllers/recent.js b/src/controllers/recent.js
index 32d253edd7..878f74d6b3 100644
--- a/src/controllers/recent.js
+++ b/src/controllers/recent.js
@@ -91,7 +91,12 @@ recentController.getData = async function (req, url, sort) {
 
 	const pageCount = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(data.topicCount / settings.topicsPerPage));
 	data.pagination = pagination.create(page, pageCount, req.query);
-	helpers.addLinkTags({ url: url, res: req.res, tags: data.pagination.rel });
+	helpers.addLinkTags({
+		url: url,
+		res: req.res,
+		tags: data.pagination.rel,
+		page: page,
+	});
 	return data;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/controllers/tags.js b/src/controllers/tags.js
index 3165303445..1b1d1a98f2 100644
--- a/src/controllers/tags.js
+++ b/src/controllers/tags.js
@@ -61,7 +61,12 @@ tagsController.getTag = async function (req, res) {
 
 	const pageCount = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(topicCount / settings.topicsPerPage));
 	templateData.pagination = pagination.create(page, pageCount, req.query);
-	helpers.addLinkTags({ url: `tags/${tag}`, res: req.res, tags: templateData.pagination.rel });
+	helpers.addLinkTags({
+		url: `tags/${tag}`,
+		res: req.res,
+		tags: templateData.pagination.rel,
+		page: page,
+	});
 
 	templateData['feeds:disableRSS'] = meta.config['feeds:disableRSS'];
 	templateData.rssFeedUrl = `${nconf.get('relative_path')}/tags/${tag}.rss`;
diff --git a/src/controllers/topics.js b/src/controllers/topics.js
index d177da7cbc..58ca059502 100644
--- a/src/controllers/topics.js
+++ b/src/controllers/topics.js
@@ -72,15 +72,15 @@ topicsController.get = async function getTopic(req, res, next) {
 	const sort = req.query.sort || settings.topicPostSort;
 	const set = sort === 'most_votes' ? `tid:${tid}:posts:votes` : `tid:${tid}:posts`;
 	const reverse = sort === 'newest_to_oldest' || sort === 'most_votes';
-	if (settings.usePagination) {
-		if (!req.query.page) {
-			currentPage = calculatePageFromIndex(postIndex, settings);
-		} else {
-			const top = ((currentPage - 1) * settings.postsPerPage) + 1;
-			const bottom = top + settings.postsPerPage;
-			if (!req.params.post_index || (postIndex < top || postIndex > bottom)) {
-				postIndex = top;
-			}
+
+	if (!req.query.page) {
+		currentPage = calculatePageFromIndex(postIndex, settings);
+	}
+	if (settings.usePagination && req.query.page) {
+		const top = ((currentPage - 1) * settings.postsPerPage) + 1;
+		const bottom = top + settings.postsPerPage;
+		if (!req.params.post_index || (postIndex < top || postIndex > bottom)) {
+			postIndex = top;
 		}
 	}
 	const { start, stop } = calculateStartStop(currentPage, postIndex, settings);
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ topicsController.get = async function getTopic(req, res, next) {
 	await Promise.all([
 		buildBreadcrumbs(topicData),
 		addOldCategory(topicData, userPrivileges),
-		addTags(topicData, req, res),
+		addTags(topicData, req, res, currentPage),
 		incrementViewCount(req, tid),
 		markAsRead(req, tid),
 		analytics.increment([`pageviews:byCid:${topicData.category.cid}`]),
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ async function addOldCategory(topicData, userPrivileges) {
 	}
 }
 
-async function addTags(topicData, req, res) {
+async function addTags(topicData, req, res, currentPage) {
 	const postIndex = parseInt(req.params.post_index, 10) || 0;
 	const postAtIndex = topicData.posts.find(p => parseInt(p.index, 10) === parseInt(Math.max(0, postIndex - 1), 10));
 	let description = '';
@@ -256,10 +256,11 @@ async function addTags(topicData, req, res) {
 
 	await addOGImageTags(res, topicData, postAtIndex);
 
+	const page = currentPage > 1 ? `?page=${currentPage}` : '';
 	res.locals.linkTags = [
 		{
 			rel: 'canonical',
-			href: `${url}/topic/${topicData.slug}`,
+			href: `${url}/topic/${topicData.slug}${page}`,
 		},
 	];
 
diff --git a/src/controllers/unread.js b/src/controllers/unread.js
index 5db883a12a..d5809d2089 100644
--- a/src/controllers/unread.js
+++ b/src/controllers/unread.js
@@ -51,7 +51,12 @@ unreadController.get = async function (req, res) {
 
 	data.pageCount = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(data.topicCount / userSettings.topicsPerPage));
 	data.pagination = pagination.create(page, data.pageCount, req.query);
-	helpers.addLinkTags({ url: 'unread', res: req.res, tags: data.pagination.rel });
+	helpers.addLinkTags({
+		url: 'unread',
+		res: req.res,
+		tags: data.pagination.rel,
+		page: page,
+	});
 
 	if (userSettings.usePagination && (page < 1 || page > data.pageCount)) {
 		req.query.page = Math.max(1, Math.min(data.pageCount, page));
diff --git a/src/user/settings.js b/src/user/settings.js
index cb982a4014..6f560e58f7 100644
--- a/src/user/settings.js
+++ b/src/user/settings.js
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ const languages = require('../languages');
 module.exports = function (User) {
 	User.getSettings = async function (uid) {
 		if (parseInt(uid, 10) <= 0) {
-			return await onSettingsLoaded(0, {});
+			return await onSettingsLoaded(uid, {
+				usePagination: parseInt(uid, 10) === -1 ? 1 : undefined, // force spiders to use pagination
+			});
 		}
 		let settings = await db.getObject(`user:${uid}:settings`);
 		settings = settings || {};