diff --git a/backend/src/main.rs b/backend/src/main.rs
index ca35e7e5a2..dd29cdd6ef 100644
--- a/backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/backend/src/main.rs
@@ -332,11 +332,7 @@ pub async fn run_workers<R: rsmq_async::RsmqConnection + Send + Sync + Clone + '
     for i in 1..(num_workers + 1) {
         let db1 = db.clone();
         let instance_name = instance_name.clone();
-        let worker_name = if num_workers > 1 {
-            format!("wk-{}-{}", &instance_name, i)
-        } else {
-            format!("wk-{}", &instance_name)
-        };
+        let worker_name = format!("wk-{}-{}", &instance_name, rd_string(5));
         let ip = ip.clone();
         let rx = rx.resubscribe();
         let base_internal_url = base_internal_url.clone();
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs
index 944947ecdc..d84d2d9fe7 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ async fn insert_initial_ping(
     db: &Pool<Postgres>,
 ) {
     sqlx::query!(
-        "INSERT INTO worker_ping (worker_instance, worker, ip) VALUES ($1, $2, $3)",
+        "INSERT INTO worker_ping (worker_instance, worker, ip) VALUES ($1, $2, $3) ON CONFLICT (worker) DO NOTHING",
         worker_instance,
         worker_name,
         ip