diff --git a/pkg/kanctl/actionset.go b/pkg/kanctl/actionset.go
index 59a4c3ffb6..47849678eb 100644
--- a/pkg/kanctl/actionset.go
+++ b/pkg/kanctl/actionset.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/rand"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	actionFlagName                       = "action"
-	actionSetFlagName                    = "action-set"
+	actionSetFlagName                    = "name"
 	blueprintFlagName                    = "blueprint"
 	configMapsFlagName                   = "config-maps"
 	deploymentFlagName                   = "deployment"
@@ -190,7 +191,7 @@ func newActionSet(params *PerformParams) (*crv1alpha1.ActionSet, error) {
 
 	return &crv1alpha1.ActionSet{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			GenerateName: name,
+			Name: name,
 		},
 		Spec: &crv1alpha1.ActionSetSpec{
 			Actions: actions,
@@ -254,7 +255,7 @@ func ChildActionSet(parent *crv1alpha1.ActionSet, params *PerformParams) (*crv1a
 
 	return &crv1alpha1.ActionSet{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			GenerateName: name,
+			Name: name,
 		},
 		Spec: &crv1alpha1.ActionSetSpec{
 			Actions: actions,
@@ -741,19 +742,19 @@ func max(x, y int) int {
 
 func generateActionSetName(p *PerformParams) (string, error) {
 	if p.ActionSetName != "" {
-		return fmt.Sprintf("%s-", p.ActionSetName), nil
+		return p.ActionSetName, nil
 	}
 
 	if p.ActionName != "" {
 		if p.ParentName != "" {
-			return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s-", p.ActionName, p.ParentName), nil
+			return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s-%s", p.ActionName, p.ParentName, rand.String(5)), nil
 		}
 
-		return fmt.Sprintf("%s-", p.ActionName), nil
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", p.ActionName, rand.String(5)), nil
 	}
 
 	if p.ParentName != "" {
-		return fmt.Sprintf("%s-", p.ParentName), nil
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", p.ParentName, rand.String(5)), nil
 	}
 
 	return "", errMissingFieldActionName
diff --git a/pkg/kanctl/actionset_test.go b/pkg/kanctl/actionset_test.go
index 12557d9d49..3605635857 100644
--- a/pkg/kanctl/actionset_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kanctl/actionset_test.go
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ func (k *KanctlTestSuite) TestGenerateActionSetName(c *C) {
 		{actionName: "my-action", actionSetName: "", parentName: "", expected: "my-action-"},
 		{actionName: "my-action", actionSetName: "", parentName: "parent", expected: "my-action-parent-"},
 		{actionName: "", actionSetName: "", parentName: "parent", expected: "parent-"},
-		{actionName: "my-action", actionSetName: "my-override", parentName: "parent", expected: "my-override-"},
-		{actionName: "", actionSetName: "my-override", parentName: "", expected: "my-override-"},
+		{actionName: "my-action", actionSetName: "my-override", parentName: "parent", expected: "my-override"},
+		{actionName: "", actionSetName: "my-override", parentName: "", expected: "my-override"},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ func (k *KanctlTestSuite) TestGenerateActionSetName(c *C) {
 
 		actual, err := generateActionSetName(params)
 		c.Assert(err, DeepEquals, tc.expectedErr)
-		c.Assert(actual, DeepEquals, tc.expected)
+		if tc.actionSetName != "" || tc.expected == "" {
+			// if --name is provided we just use that we dont derive name
+			c.Assert(actual, DeepEquals, tc.expected)
+		} else {
+			// random 5 chars are added at the end if name is derived by us
+			c.Assert(actual[0:len(actual)-5], DeepEquals, tc.expected)
+		}
 	}
 }