diff --git a/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py b/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py
index 26bbeff04a..dfd9837d82 100644
--- a/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py
+++ b/evennia/typeclasses/attributes.py
@@ -1128,4 +1128,4 @@ class NAttributeHandler(object):
         """
         if return_tuples:
             return [(key, value) for (key, value) in self._store.items() if not key.startswith("_")]
-        return [key for key in self._store if not key.startswith("_")]
+        return [key for key in self._store if not str(key).startswith("_")]