diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 95ae7c97a..aabff077e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 [#724]: https://github.com/stackabletech/operator-rs/pull/724
 
+### Changed
+
+- Change Deref target of `KeyPrefix` and `KeyName` from `String` to `str` ([#725]).
+
+[#725]: https://github.com/stackabletech/operator-rs/pull/725
+
 ## [0.62.0] - 2024-01-19
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/kvp/key.rs b/src/kvp/key.rs
index 924373401..3defc0cfb 100644
--- a/src/kvp/key.rs
+++ b/src/kvp/key.rs
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ impl FromStr for KeyPrefix {
 }
 
 impl Deref for KeyPrefix {
-    type Target = String;
+    type Target = str;
 
     fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
         &self.0
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ where
     T: AsRef<str>,
 {
     fn eq(&self, other: &T) -> bool {
-        self.as_str() == other.as_ref()
+        self.deref() == other.as_ref()
     }
 }
 
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ impl FromStr for KeyName {
 }
 
 impl Deref for KeyName {
-    type Target = String;
+    type Target = str;
 
     fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
         &self.0
@@ -329,15 +329,18 @@ where
     T: AsRef<str>,
 {
     fn eq(&self, other: &T) -> bool {
-        self.as_str() == other.as_ref()
+        self.deref() == other.as_ref()
     }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
-    use super::*;
     use rstest::rstest;
 
+    use crate::kvp::Label;
+
+    use super::*;
+
     #[test]
     fn key_with_prefix() {
         let key = Key::from_str("stackable.tech/vendor").unwrap();
@@ -399,4 +402,30 @@ mod test {
         let err = KeyName::from_str(&input).unwrap_err();
         assert_eq!(err, error);
     }
+
+    #[rstest]
+    #[case("app.kubernetes.io/name", true)]
+    #[case("name", false)]
+    fn key_prefix_deref(#[case] key: &str, #[case] expected: bool) {
+        let label = Label::try_from((key, "zookeeper")).unwrap();
+
+        let is_valid = label
+            .key()
+            .prefix()
+            .is_some_and(|prefix| *prefix == "app.kubernetes.io");
+
+        assert_eq!(is_valid, expected)
+    }
+
+    #[rstest]
+    #[case("app.kubernetes.io/name", true)]
+    #[case("app.kubernetes.io/foo", false)]
+    #[case("name", true)]
+    #[case("foo", false)]
+    fn key_name_deref(#[case] key: &str, #[case] expected: bool) {
+        let label = Label::try_from((key, "zookeeper")).unwrap();
+        let is_valid = *label.key().name() == "name";
+
+        assert_eq!(is_valid, expected);
+    }
 }