diff --git a/src/Proto.Cluster/Cluster.cs b/src/Proto.Cluster/Cluster.cs
index 3658e41c2e..0b8d6985c0 100644
--- a/src/Proto.Cluster/Cluster.cs
+++ b/src/Proto.Cluster/Cluster.cs
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public async Task StartClientAsync()
 
     private async Task BeginStartAsync(bool client)
     {
-        InitClusterKinds();
+        InitClusterKinds(client);
         Provider = Config.ClusterProvider;
         //default to partition identity lookup
         IdentityLookup = Config.IdentityLookup;
@@ -147,14 +147,15 @@ private void InitPidCacheTimeouts()
         }
     }
 
-    private void InitClusterKinds()
+    private void InitClusterKinds(bool client)
     {
         foreach (var clusterKind in Config.ClusterKinds)
         {
             _clusterKinds.Add(clusterKind.Name, clusterKind.Build(this));
         }
 
-        EnsureTopicKindRegistered();
+        if(!client)
+            EnsureTopicKindRegistered();
 
         if (System.Metrics.Enabled)
         {
diff --git a/src/Proto.Cluster/PubSub/TopicActor.cs b/src/Proto.Cluster/PubSub/TopicActor.cs
index f02598a80c..86f1d09210 100644
--- a/src/Proto.Cluster/PubSub/TopicActor.cs
+++ b/src/Proto.Cluster/PubSub/TopicActor.cs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace Proto.Cluster.PubSub;
 
 public sealed class TopicActor : IActor
 {
-    public const string Kind = "$topic";
+    public const string Kind = "prototopic"; // only alphanum in the name, to maximize chances it works on all clustering providers
 
     private static readonly ILogger Logger = Log.CreateLogger<TopicActor>();
     private ImmutableHashSet<SubscriberIdentity> _subscribers = ImmutableHashSet<SubscriberIdentity>.Empty;