diff --git a/resolvers/author.py b/resolvers/author.py
index 4784e3ca..7c601110 100644
--- a/resolvers/author.py
+++ b/resolvers/author.py
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ async def get_author_followers(_, _info, slug: str):
     try:
         with local_session() as session:
             author_alias = aliased(Author)
-            author_id = session.query(author_alias).filter(author_alias.slug == slug).first()
+            author_id = session.query(author_alias.id).filter(author_alias.slug == slug).first()
             cached = await redis.execute('GET', f'id:{author_id}:followers')
             results = []
             if not cached: