diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 62a004632..1f61c7ab1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 ## 2025-06-23 - Runtime 0.18.0-alpha.13
 
 - fix: time zone retrieval and logging [#906](https://github.com/hypermodeinc/modus/pull/906)
+- feat: distribute actors across cluster when restoring on startup [#976](https://github.com/hypermodeinc/modus/pull/907)
 
 ## 2025-06-23 - Runtime 0.18.0-alpha.12
 
diff --git a/runtime/actors/actorsystem.go b/runtime/actors/actorsystem.go
index 5217e50d8..8dafbe247 100644
--- a/runtime/actors/actorsystem.go
+++ b/runtime/actors/actorsystem.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ package actors
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand/v2"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hypermodeinc/modus/runtime/db"
@@ -92,44 +93,54 @@ func loadAgentActors(ctx context.Context, plugin *plugins.Plugin) error {
 
 	// restart local actors that are already running, which will reload the plugin
 	actors := _actorSystem.Actors()
-	localAgents := make(map[string]bool, len(actors))
 	for _, pid := range actors {
 		if a, ok := pid.Actor().(*wasmAgentActor); ok {
-			localAgents[a.agentId] = true
 			if err := goakt.Tell(ctx, pid, &messages.RestartAgent{}); err != nil {
 				logger.Err(ctx, err).Str("agent_id", a.agentId).Msg("Failed to send restart agent message to actor.")
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	// spawn actors for agents with state in the database, that are not already running
-	// check both locally and on remote nodes in the cluster
 	// do this in a goroutine to avoid blocking the cluster engine startup
 	go func() {
-		logger.Debug(ctx).Msg("Restoring agent actors from database.")
-		agents, err := db.QueryActiveAgents(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			logger.Err(ctx, err).Msg("Failed to query active agents from database.")
-			return
+		if err := restoreAgentActors(ctx, plugin.Name()); err != nil {
+			logger.Err(ctx, err).Msg("Failed to restore agent actors.")
 		}
-		inCluster := _actorSystem.InCluster()
-		for _, agent := range agents {
-			if !localAgents[agent.Id] {
-				if inCluster {
-					actorName := getActorName(agent.Id)
-					if exists, err := _actorSystem.ActorExists(ctx, actorName); err != nil {
-						logger.Err(ctx, err).Msgf("Failed to check if actor %s exists in cluster.", actorName)
-					} else if exists {
-						// if the actor already exists in the cluster, skip spawning it
-						continue
-					}
-				}
-				if err := spawnActorForAgent(ctx, plugin.Name(), agent.Id, agent.Name, false); err != nil {
-					logger.Err(ctx, err).Msgf("Failed to spawn actor for agent %s.", agent.Id)
-				}
+	}()
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// restoreAgentActors spawn actors for agents with state in the database, that are not already running
+func restoreAgentActors(ctx context.Context, pluginName string) error {
+	span, ctx := utils.NewSentrySpanForCurrentFunc(ctx)
+	defer span.Finish()
+
+	logger.Debug(ctx).Msg("Restoring agent actors from database.")
+
+	// query the database for active agents
+	agents, err := db.QueryActiveAgents(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to query active agents from database: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// shuffle the agents to help distribute the load across the cluster when multiple nodes are starting simultaneously
+	rand.Shuffle(len(agents), func(i, j int) {
+		agents[i], agents[j] = agents[j], agents[i]
+	})
+
+	// spawn actors for each agent that is not already running
+	for _, agent := range agents {
+		actorName := getActorName(agent.Id)
+		if exists, err := _actorSystem.ActorExists(ctx, actorName); err != nil {
+			logger.Err(ctx, err).Msgf("Failed to check if actor %s exists.", actorName)
+		} else if !exists {
+			err := spawnActorForAgent(ctx, pluginName, agent.Id, agent.Name, false)
+			if err != nil {
+				logger.Err(ctx, err).Msgf("Failed to spawn actor for agent %s.", agent.Id)
 			}
 		}
-	}()
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }