diff --git a/tractor/_clustering.py b/tractor/_clustering.py
index 37a03bb..8fabc00 100644
--- a/tractor/_clustering.py
+++ b/tractor/_clustering.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ async def open_actor_cluster(
 ]:
 
     portals: dict[str, tractor.Portal] = {}
-    uid = __import__('random').randint(0, 2 ** 16)
+    uid = str(__import__('random').randint(0, 2 ** 16))
     # uid = tractor.current_actor().uid
 
     if not names: