diff --git a/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync.ts b/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync.ts
index 283a32196b..8df1274563 100644
--- a/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync.ts
+++ b/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync.ts
@@ -599,7 +599,11 @@ export async function startSyncs(params: StartSyncsParams) {
   )
 
   const allSyncs = expectedKeys.length === 0 ? [] : await mutagen.getActiveSyncSessions()
-  const keyPrefix = getSyncKeyPrefix(ctx, action)
+  const keyPrefix = getSyncKeyPrefix({
+    environmentName: ctx.environmentName,
+    namespace: ctx.namespace,
+    actionName: action.name,
+  })
 
   for (const sync of allSyncs.filter((s) => s.name.startsWith(keyPrefix) && !expectedKeys.includes(s.name))) {
     log.info(`Terminating unexpected/outdated sync ${sync.name}`)
@@ -615,7 +619,11 @@ export async function stopSyncs(params: StopSyncsParams) {
   const mutagen = new Mutagen({ ctx, log })
 
   const allSyncs = await mutagen.getActiveSyncSessions()
-  const keyPrefix = getSyncKeyPrefix(ctx, action)
+  const keyPrefix = getSyncKeyPrefix({
+    environmentName: ctx.environmentName,
+    namespace: ctx.namespace,
+    actionName: action.name,
+  })
   const syncs = allSyncs.filter((sync) => sync.name.startsWith(keyPrefix))
 
   for (const sync of syncs) {
@@ -775,7 +783,11 @@ export async function getSyncStatus(params: GetSyncStatusParams): Promise<GetSyn
     })
   }
 
-  const keyPrefix = getSyncKeyPrefix(ctx, action)
+  const keyPrefix = getSyncKeyPrefix({
+    environmentName: ctx.environmentName,
+    namespace: ctx.namespace,
+    actionName: action.name,
+  })
 
   let extraSyncs = false
 
@@ -807,21 +819,38 @@ export async function getSyncStatus(params: GetSyncStatusParams): Promise<GetSyn
   }
 }
 
-function getSyncKeyPrefix(ctx: PluginContext, action: SupportedRuntimeAction) {
-  return kebabCase(`k8s--${ctx.environmentName}--${ctx.namespace}--${action.name}--`)
+interface StructuredSyncKeyPrefix {
+  environmentName: string
+  namespace: string
+  actionName: string
+}
+
+export function getSyncKeyPrefix({ environmentName, namespace, actionName }: StructuredSyncKeyPrefix) {
+  // Kebab-case each part of the key prefix separately to preserve double-dash delimiters
+  return `k8s--${kebabCase(environmentName)}--${kebabCase(namespace)}--${kebabCase(actionName)}--`
 }
 
 /**
  * Generates a unique key for sa single sync.
  * IMPORTANT!!! The key will be used as an argument in the `mutagen` shell command.
- *  It cannot contain any characters that can break the command execution (like / \ < > | :).
+ * It cannot contain any characters that can break the command execution (like / \ < > | :).
+ *
+ * Note, that function {@link kebabCase} replaces any sequence of multiple dashes with a single dash character.
+ *
+ * It's critical to have double dashes (--) as a delimiter of a key parts here and in {@link getSyncKeyPrefix}
+ * to avoid potential collisions of the sync key prefixes.
  */
-function getSyncKey({ ctx, action, spec }: PrepareSyncParams, target: SyncableResource): string {
+export function getSyncKey({ ctx, action, spec }: PrepareSyncParams, target: SyncableResource): string {
   const sourcePath = relative(action.sourcePath(), spec.sourcePath)
   const containerPath = spec.containerPath
-  return kebabCase(
-    `${getSyncKeyPrefix(ctx, action)}${target.kind}--${target.metadata.name}--${sourcePath}--${containerPath}`
-  )
+  // Kebab-case each part of the key prefix separately to preserve double-dash delimiters
+  return `${getSyncKeyPrefix({
+    environmentName: ctx.environmentName,
+    namespace: ctx.namespace,
+    actionName: action.name,
+  })}${kebabCase(target.kind)}--${kebabCase(target.metadata.name)}--${kebabCase(sourcePath)}--${kebabCase(
+    containerPath
+  )}`
 }
 
 async function prepareSync(params: PrepareSyncParams) {
diff --git a/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/dev-mode.ts b/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync-mode.ts
similarity index 79%
rename from core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/dev-mode.ts
rename to core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync-mode.ts
index 19493fdb81..f6ca75d9ad 100644
--- a/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/dev-mode.ts
+++ b/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync-mode.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@
  */
 
 import { expect } from "chai"
-import { builtInExcludes, getLocalSyncPath, makeSyncConfig } from "../../../../../src/plugins/kubernetes/sync.js"
+import {
+  builtInExcludes,
+  getLocalSyncPath,
+  getSyncKeyPrefix,
+  makeSyncConfig,
+} from "../../../../../src/plugins/kubernetes/sync.js"
 
 describe("k8s sync helpers", () => {
   describe("getLocalSyncPath", () => {
@@ -141,4 +146,25 @@ describe("k8s sync helpers", () => {
       })
     })
   })
+
+  describe("getSyncKeyPrefix", () => {
+    const environmentName = "dev"
+    const namespace = "default"
+
+    it("produces a sync key prefix with double-dashes", () => {
+      const syncKeyPrefix = getSyncKeyPrefix({ environmentName, namespace, actionName: "backend" })
+      expect(syncKeyPrefix).to.eql("k8s--dev--default--backend--")
+    })
+
+    it("produces non-colliding keys if one action's name starts with another action's name", () => {
+      const actionName1 = "backend"
+      const actionName2 = "backend-new"
+      expect(actionName2.startsWith(actionName1)).to.be.true
+
+      const syncKeyPrefix1 = getSyncKeyPrefix({ environmentName, namespace, actionName: actionName1 })
+      const syncKeyPrefix2 = getSyncKeyPrefix({ environmentName, namespace, actionName: actionName2 })
+      expect(syncKeyPrefix2.startsWith(syncKeyPrefix1)).to.be.false
+      expect(syncKeyPrefix1.startsWith(syncKeyPrefix2)).to.be.false
+    })
+  })
 })