diff --git a/Src/Particle/AMReX_NeighborParticlesI.H b/Src/Particle/AMReX_NeighborParticlesI.H
index bcdaeebdbbf..33cc47d0d5e 100644
--- a/Src/Particle/AMReX_NeighborParticlesI.H
+++ b/Src/Particle/AMReX_NeighborParticlesI.H
@@ -821,6 +821,11 @@ selectActualNeighbors (CheckPair&& check_pair, int num_cells)
 
     for (int lev = 0; lev < this->numLevels(); ++lev)
     {
+        // clear previous neighbor particle ids
+        for (auto& keyval: m_boundary_particle_ids[lev]) {
+          keyval.second.clear();
+        }
+
         for (MyParIter pti(*this, lev); pti.isValid(); ++pti) {
             PairIndex index(pti.index(), pti.LocalTileIndex());