diff --git a/pretor/core/workflow/workflow_runner.py b/pretor/core/workflow/workflow_runner.py
index 77b3229..057f121 100644
--- a/pretor/core/workflow/workflow_runner.py
+++ b/pretor/core/workflow/workflow_runner.py
@@ -268,9 +268,11 @@ class WorkflowRunningEngine:
         self.consciousness_node = consciousness_node
         self.control_node = control_node
         self.supervisory_node = supervisory_node
-        self.global_state_machine = ray_actor_hook("global_state_machine").global_state_machine
+        self.global_state_machine = None
 
     async def run(self):
+        # Move actor hook to async start so we don't race during __init__ across cluster
+        self.global_state_machine = ray_actor_hook("global_state_machine").global_state_machine
         self.workflow_queue = asyncio.Queue()
         self.runner_engine = {
             f"runner_{i}": asyncio.create_task(self.runner(i))