diff --git a/common.go b/common.go
index 323cc2b..896bdb3 100644
--- a/common.go
+++ b/common.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
@@ -31,13 +32,10 @@ func UUID() string {
 	// Setup seed & counter once
 	uuidSetup.Do(func() {
 		if _, err := rand.Read(uuidSeed[:]); err != nil {
-			return
+			panic(fmt.Errorf("utils: failed to seed UUID generator: %w", err))
 		}
 		uuidCounter = binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(uuidSeed[:8])
 	})
-	if atomic.LoadUint64(&uuidCounter) <= 0 {
-		return "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
-	}
 	// first 8 bytes differ, taking a slice of the first 16 bytes
 	x := atomic.AddUint64(&uuidCounter, 1)
 	uuid := uuidSeed