Abstract: A fan assembly for a dryer appliance is provided. The fan assembly includes an inlet duct that fluidly couples a chamber of the dryer appliance to a fan inlet. The inlet duct includes one or more guide vanes that are configured to direct the air in a manner that improves the pressure rise across the fan, thereby improving appliance performance. For example, the guide vanes may be positioned and oriented to generate a negative pre-swirl of the flow of air, such that the flow of air enters the fan inlet rotating in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of an impeller. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more guide vanes may be positioned and oriented to generate a laminar flow of otherwise turbulent air from the chamber of the dryer appliance.