diff --git a/pentestagent/interface/tui.py b/pentestagent/interface/tui.py
index 7555a66..d1ca258 100644
--- a/pentestagent/interface/tui.py
+++ b/pentestagent/interface/tui.py
@@ -1789,28 +1789,13 @@ class PentestAgentTUI(App):
                     updated = True
                     break
             if not updated:
-                # Fallback: add system line near top by inserting at beginning
+                # If we couldn't find an existing banner SystemMessage to
+                # update, update the persistent header instead of inserting
+                # additional in-chat system messages to avoid duplicates.
                 try:
-                    first = scroll.children[0] if scroll.children else None
-                    msg = SystemMessage(f"  Target: {target}")
-                    if first:
-                        # Textual's ScrollableContainer may not implement
-                        # mount_before across versions; fall back to mount.
-                        try:
-                            scroll.mount_before(msg, first)
-                        except Exception:
-                            scroll.mount(msg)
-                    else:
-                        scroll.mount(msg)
-                except Exception as e:
-                    logging.getLogger(__name__).exception("Failed to mount target system message: %s", e)
-                    try:
-                        from pentestagent.interface.notifier import notify
-
-                        notify("warning", f"TUI: failed to display target: {e}")
-                    except Exception as ne:
-                        logging.getLogger(__name__).exception("Failed to notify operator about target display failure: %s", ne)
-                    self._add_system(f"  Target: {target}")
+                    self._update_header(target=target)
+                except Exception:
+                    logging.getLogger(__name__).exception("Failed to update persistent header with target")
         except Exception as e:
             logging.getLogger(__name__).exception("Failed while applying target display: %s", e)
             try:
@@ -2419,22 +2404,14 @@ Be concise. Use the actual data from notes."""
                         )
                     updated = True
                     break
-            if not updated:
-                try:
-                    first = scroll.children[0] if scroll.children else None
-                    msg = SystemMessage(f"  Target: {target}")
-                    if first:
-                        try:
-                            scroll.mount_before(msg, first)
-                        except Exception:
-                            scroll.mount(msg)
-                    else:
-                        scroll.mount(msg)
-                except Exception:
-                    self._add_system(f"  Target: {target}")
+                if not updated:
+                    try:
+                        self._update_header(target=target)
+                    except Exception:
+                        logging.getLogger(__name__).exception("Failed to update persistent header with target")
         except Exception as e:
             logging.getLogger(__name__).exception("Failed updating in-scroll target display: %s", e)
-        # Also update the persistent header so the target is always visible
+            # Also update the persistent header so the target is always visible
         try:
             self._update_header(target=target)
         except Exception: