diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonController.java b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonController.java
index 81c35825..dad52b5a 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonController.java
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonController.java
@@ -51,12 +51,14 @@ public class PersonController {
             @RequestParam(required = false) String sort,
             @RequestParam(defaultValue = "0") @Min(0) int page,
             @RequestParam(defaultValue = "50") @Min(1) @Max(100) int size) {
-        // Legacy top-N-by-document-count path (reader dashboard): preserved, now wrapped in the
-        // paged contract so /api/persons always returns one shape.
+        // Legacy top-N-by-document-count path (reader dashboard): preserved, wrapped in the
+        // same envelope so /api/persons always returns one shape. It is explicitly NON-paged —
+        // the top-N query returns the complete result, so PersonSearchResult.topN reports an
+        // honest totalElements (= returned count) instead of pretending to be a page slice.
         if ("documentCount".equals(sort) && q == null) {
             int safeSize = Math.min(size, 50);
             List<PersonSummaryDTO> top = personService.findTopByDocumentCount(safeSize);
-            return ResponseEntity.ok(PersonSearchResult.paged(top, 0, safeSize, top.size()));
+            return ResponseEntity.ok(PersonSearchResult.topN(top));
         }
 
         PersonFilter filter = PersonFilter.builder()
diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonSearchResult.java b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonSearchResult.java
index 7f8c8e93..ff605770 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonSearchResult.java
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonSearchResult.java
@@ -33,4 +33,18 @@ public record PersonSearchResult(
         int totalPages = pageSize == 0 ? 0 : (int) ((totalElements + pageSize - 1) / pageSize);
         return new PersonSearchResult(slice, totalElements, pageNumber, pageSize, totalPages);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Non-paged factory for the legacy {@code sort=documentCount} top-N dashboard path.
+     * That query returns the <em>complete</em> result in one shot — there is no further page
+     * to fetch — so the envelope reports reality rather than pretending to be a slice of a
+     * larger set: {@code totalElements} equals the number of rows actually returned,
+     * {@code pageSize} equals that same count, and {@code totalPages} is 1 (or 0 when empty).
+     * This avoids the earlier ambiguity where {@code totalElements} looked like a paged total.
+     */
+    public static PersonSearchResult topN(List<PersonSummaryDTO> all) {
+        int count = all.size();
+        int totalPages = count == 0 ? 0 : 1;
+        return new PersonSearchResult(all, count, 0, count, totalPages);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonControllerTest.java b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonControllerTest.java
index f421f86e..d43e9a9a 100644
--- a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonControllerTest.java
+++ b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonControllerTest.java
@@ -175,6 +175,36 @@ class PersonControllerTest {
                 .andExpect(jsonPath("$.items[0].firstName").value("Käthe"));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    @WithMockUser(authorities = "READ_ALL")
+    void getPersons_topByDocumentCount_isNonPaged_totalElementsEqualsReturnedCount() throws Exception {
+        // The top-N dashboard path is deliberately NON-paged: it returns the complete result
+        // (no further page exists), so totalElements equals the number of rows returned and
+        // totalPages is 1. Pinned so nobody "fixes" it into a misleading paged total.
+        when(personService.findTopByDocumentCount(50))
+                .thenReturn(List.of(mockPersonSummary("Käthe", "Raddatz"),
+                                    mockPersonSummary("Hans", "Müller")));
+
+        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/persons").param("sort", "documentCount"))
+                .andExpect(status().isOk())
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.items.length()").value(2))
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.totalElements").value(2))
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.pageNumber").value(0))
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.pageSize").value(2))
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.totalPages").value(1));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @WithMockUser(authorities = "READ_ALL")
+    void getPersons_topByDocumentCount_emptyResult_reportsZeroPages() throws Exception {
+        when(personService.findTopByDocumentCount(50)).thenReturn(Collections.emptyList());
+
+        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/persons").param("sort", "documentCount"))
+                .andExpect(status().isOk())
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.totalElements").value(0))
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.totalPages").value(0));
+    }
+
     private PersonSummaryDTO mockPersonSummary(String firstName, String lastName) {
         return new PersonSummaryDTO() {
             public java.util.UUID getId() { return UUID.randomUUID(); }