diff --git a/pkg/models/dashboards.go b/pkg/models/dashboards.go
index b377e184829..184fe33e134 100644
--- a/pkg/models/dashboards.go
+++ b/pkg/models/dashboards.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/gosimple/slug"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/simplejson"
-	"github.com/teris-io/shortid"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util"
 )
 
 // Typed errors
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ type Dashboard struct {
 // NewDashboard creates a new dashboard
 func NewDashboard(title string) *Dashboard {
 	dash := &Dashboard{}
-	dash.Uid = DashboardUid()
+	dash.Uid, _ = util.GenerateShortUid()
 	dash.Data = simplejson.New()
 	dash.Data.Set("title", title)
 	dash.Title = title
@@ -113,18 +113,12 @@ func NewDashboardFromJson(data *simplejson.Json) *Dashboard {
 	if uid, err := dash.Data.Get("uid").String(); err == nil {
 		dash.Uid = uid
 	} else {
-		dash.Uid = DashboardUid()
+		dash.Uid, _ = util.GenerateShortUid()
 	}
 
 	return dash
 }
 
-func DashboardUid() string {
-	gen, _ := shortid.New(1, shortid.DefaultABC, 1)
-	uid, _ := gen.Generate()
-	return uid
-}
-
 // GetDashboardModel turns the command into the savable model
 func (cmd *SaveDashboardCommand) GetDashboardModel() *Dashboard {
 	dash := NewDashboardFromJson(cmd.Dashboard)
diff --git a/pkg/util/shortid_generator.go b/pkg/util/shortid_generator.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ab3b9400f4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/shortid_generator.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package util
+
+import (
+	"github.com/teris-io/shortid"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	gen, _ := shortid.New(1, shortid.DefaultABC, 1)
+	shortid.SetDefault(gen)
+
+}
+
+// GenerateShortUid generates a short unique identifier.
+func GenerateShortUid() (uid string, err error) {
+	if uid, err = shortid.Generate(); err != nil {
+		if uid, err = shortid.Generate(); err != nil {
+			if uid, err = shortid.Generate(); err != nil {
+				return "", err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return uid, nil
+}