diff --git a/agent/proxycfg/snapshot.go b/agent/proxycfg/snapshot.go
index acc737c841..8e9b4fee34 100644
--- a/agent/proxycfg/snapshot.go
+++ b/agent/proxycfg/snapshot.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/mitchellh/copystructure"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/acl"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/connect"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/structs"
 )
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ type GatewayKey struct {
 
 func (k GatewayKey) String() string {
 	resp := k.Datacenter
-	if k.Partition != "" {
+	if !structs.IsDefaultPartition(k.Partition) {
 		resp = k.Partition + "." + resp
 	}
 	return resp
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ func gatewayKeyFromString(s string) GatewayKey {
 	split := strings.SplitN(s, ".", 2)
 
 	if len(split) == 1 {
-		return GatewayKey{Datacenter: split[0]}
+		return GatewayKey{Datacenter: split[0], Partition: acl.DefaultPartitionName}
 	}
 	return GatewayKey{Partition: split[0], Datacenter: split[1]}
 }
diff --git a/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go b/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go
index 1378ac0a53..b4d1fc202f 100644
--- a/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go
+++ b/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go
@@ -649,8 +649,8 @@ func TestState_WatchesAndUpdates(t *testing.T) {
 				"upstream-target:api-failover-remote.default.default.dc2:api-failover-remote?dc=dc2": genVerifyServiceWatch("api-failover-remote", "", "dc2", true),
 				"upstream-target:api-failover-local.default.default.dc2:api-failover-local?dc=dc2":   genVerifyServiceWatch("api-failover-local", "", "dc2", true),
 				"upstream-target:api-failover-direct.default.default.dc2:api-failover-direct?dc=dc2": genVerifyServiceWatch("api-failover-direct", "", "dc2", true),
-				"mesh-gateway:default.dc2:api-failover-remote?dc=dc2":                                genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc2"),
-				"mesh-gateway:default.dc1:api-failover-local?dc=dc2":                                 genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc1"),
+				"mesh-gateway:dc2:api-failover-remote?dc=dc2":                                        genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc2"),
+				"mesh-gateway:dc1:api-failover-local?dc=dc2":                                         genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc1"),
 			},
 			verifySnapshot: func(t testing.TB, snap *ConfigSnapshot) {
 				require.True(t, snap.Valid())
@@ -673,7 +673,7 @@ func TestState_WatchesAndUpdates(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		if meshGatewayProxyConfigValue == structs.MeshGatewayModeLocal {
-			stage1.requiredWatches["mesh-gateway:default.dc1:api-dc2"] = genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc1")
+			stage1.requiredWatches["mesh-gateway:dc1:api-dc2"] = genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc1")
 		}
 
 		return testCase{
diff --git a/agent/proxycfg/testing.go b/agent/proxycfg/testing.go
index 870d8e7a1d..33444598b4 100644
--- a/agent/proxycfg/testing.go
+++ b/agent/proxycfg/testing.go
@@ -1432,7 +1432,7 @@ func setupTestVariationConfigEntriesAndSnapshot(
 			TestUpstreamNodesDC2(t)
 		snap.WatchedGatewayEndpoints = map[string]map[string]structs.CheckServiceNodes{
 			"db": {
-				"default.dc2": TestGatewayNodesDC2(t),
+				"dc2": TestGatewayNodesDC2(t),
 			},
 		}
 	case "failover-through-double-remote-gateway-triggered":
@@ -1445,8 +1445,8 @@ func setupTestVariationConfigEntriesAndSnapshot(
 		snap.WatchedUpstreamEndpoints["db"]["db.default.default.dc3"] = TestUpstreamNodesDC2(t)
 		snap.WatchedGatewayEndpoints = map[string]map[string]structs.CheckServiceNodes{
 			"db": {
-				"default.dc2": TestGatewayNodesDC2(t),
-				"default.dc3": TestGatewayNodesDC3(t),
+				"dc2": TestGatewayNodesDC2(t),
+				"dc3": TestGatewayNodesDC3(t),
 			},
 		}
 	case "failover-through-local-gateway-triggered":
@@ -1458,7 +1458,7 @@ func setupTestVariationConfigEntriesAndSnapshot(
 			TestUpstreamNodesDC2(t)
 		snap.WatchedGatewayEndpoints = map[string]map[string]structs.CheckServiceNodes{
 			"db": {
-				"default.dc1": TestGatewayNodesDC1(t),
+				"dc1": TestGatewayNodesDC1(t),
 			},
 		}
 	case "failover-through-double-local-gateway-triggered":
@@ -1471,7 +1471,7 @@ func setupTestVariationConfigEntriesAndSnapshot(
 		snap.WatchedUpstreamEndpoints["db"]["db.default.default.dc3"] = TestUpstreamNodesDC2(t)
 		snap.WatchedGatewayEndpoints = map[string]map[string]structs.CheckServiceNodes{
 			"db": {
-				"default.dc1": TestGatewayNodesDC1(t),
+				"dc1": TestGatewayNodesDC1(t),
 			},
 		}
 	case "splitter-with-resolver-redirect-multidc":
@@ -1547,7 +1547,7 @@ func testConfigSnapshotMeshGateway(t testing.T, populateServices bool, useFedera
 			},
 			WatchedServicesSet: true,
 			WatchedGateways: map[string]context.CancelFunc{
-				"default.dc2": nil,
+				"dc2": nil,
 			},
 			ServiceGroups: map[structs.ServiceName]structs.CheckServiceNodes{
 				structs.NewServiceName("foo", nil): TestGatewayServiceGroupFooDC1(t),