diff --git a/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend.go b/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend.go
index 7a67ea2a50..823385b9a8 100644
--- a/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend.go
+++ b/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend.go
@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ func (b *Backend) Configure(obj cty.Value) tfdiags.Diagnostics {
 	)
 
 	b.acl = stringAttr(obj, "acl")
-	b.workspaceKeyPrefix = stringAttrDefault(obj, "workspace_key_prefix", "env:")
+	b.workspaceKeyPrefix = stringAttrDefault(obj, "workspace_key_prefix", defaultWorkspaceKeyPrefix)
 	b.serverSideEncryption = boolAttr(obj, "encrypt")
 	b.kmsKeyID = stringAttr(obj, "kms_key_id")
 	b.ddbTable = stringAttr(obj, "dynamodb_table")
diff --git a/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend_state.go b/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend_state.go
index 217acf0f80..12ff6b88a9 100644
--- a/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend_state.go
+++ b/internal/backend/remote-state/s3/backend_state.go
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/internal/states/statemgr"
 )
 
+const (
+	// defaultWorkspaceKeyPrefix is the default prefix for workspace storage.
+	// The colon is used to reduce the chance of name conflicts with existing objects.
+	defaultWorkspaceKeyPrefix = "env:"
+)
+
 func (b *Backend) Workspaces() ([]string, error) {
 	const maxKeys = 1000