diff --git a/pyiceberg/catalog/dynamodb.py b/pyiceberg/catalog/dynamodb.py
index 74c0be6c9a..ee0e5e23de 100644
--- a/pyiceberg/catalog/dynamodb.py
+++ b/pyiceberg/catalog/dynamodb.py
@@ -891,4 +891,4 @@ def _add_property_prefix(prop: str) -> str:
 
 
 def _remove_property_prefix(prop: str) -> str:
-    return prop.lstrip(PROPERTY_KEY_PREFIX)
+    return prop.removeprefix(PROPERTY_KEY_PREFIX)
diff --git a/tests/catalog/test_dynamodb.py b/tests/catalog/test_dynamodb.py
index 5933e7d472..97ee824812 100644
--- a/tests/catalog/test_dynamodb.py
+++ b/tests/catalog/test_dynamodb.py
@@ -502,6 +502,26 @@ def test_load_namespace_properties(_bucket_initialize: None, database_name: str)
         assert v == test_properties[k]
 
 
+@mock_aws
+def test_load_namespace_properties_with_prefix_char_keys(_bucket_initialize: None, database_name: str) -> None:
+    # Property keys starting with a character in the "p." prefix (e.g. "p" or ".") must
+    # survive a round trip. The stored keys are prefixed with PROPERTY_KEY_PREFIX ("p."),
+    # so decoding must strip only that literal prefix, not any leading "p"/"." characters.
+    test_properties = {
+        "provider": "s3",
+        "path": f"s3://{BUCKET_NAME}/{database_name}.db",
+        "ppp": "3",
+        ".hidden": "yes",
+        "comment": "not affected",
+    }
+    test_catalog = DynamoDbCatalog("test_ddb_catalog")
+    test_catalog.create_namespace(database_name, test_properties)
+    listed_properties = test_catalog.load_namespace_properties(database_name)
+    for k, v in test_properties.items():
+        assert k in listed_properties
+        assert listed_properties[k] == v
+
+
 @mock_aws
 def test_load_non_exist_namespace_properties(_bucket_initialize: None, database_name: str) -> None:
     test_catalog = DynamoDbCatalog("test_ddb_catalog")