diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f9032146e..d9a41cd7b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2529,9 +2529,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rustls-webpki"
-version = "0.103.9"
+version = "0.103.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d7df23109aa6c1567d1c575b9952556388da57401e4ace1d15f79eedad0d8f53"
+checksum = "df33b2b81ac578cabaf06b89b0631153a3f416b0a886e8a7a1707fb51abbd1ef"
 dependencies = [
  "ring",
  "rustls-pki-types",
diff --git a/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md b/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md
index b9fb62d3b..e7fa5cc1f 100644
--- a/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,10 +6,17 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ### Added
 
+- Implement `Deref` for `kvp::Key` to be more ergonomic to use ([#1182]).
 - Add support for specifying a `clientAuthenticationMethod` for OIDC ([#1178]).
   This was originally done in [#1158] and had been reverted in [#1170].
 
+### Removed
+
+- BREAKING: Remove unused `add_prefix`, `try_add_prefix`, `set_name`, and `try_set_name` associated
+  functions from `kvp::Key` to disallow mutable access to inner values ([#1182]).
+
 [#1178]: https://github.com/stackabletech/operator-rs/pull/1178
+[#1182]: https://github.com/stackabletech/operator-rs/pull/1182
 
 ## [0.108.0] - 2026-03-10
 
diff --git a/crates/stackable-operator/src/kvp/key.rs b/crates/stackable-operator/src/kvp/key.rs
index 6e2486f63..ed280bea9 100644
--- a/crates/stackable-operator/src/kvp/key.rs
+++ b/crates/stackable-operator/src/kvp/key.rs
@@ -58,6 +58,16 @@ pub enum KeyError {
 /// [k8s-labels]: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/labels/
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
 pub struct Key {
+    /// A cached and formatted representation of a [`Key`] as a [`String`], which enables the
+    /// implementation of [`Deref`], instead of constructing a new [`String`] every time the string
+    /// representation of a key is needed.
+    ///
+    /// ### Safety
+    ///
+    /// This is safe to do (and cache it), because [`Key`] doesn't provide any **mutable** access
+    /// to the inner values.
+    string: String,
+
     prefix: Option<KeyPrefix>,
     name: KeyName,
 }
@@ -80,12 +90,22 @@ impl FromStr for Key {
             _ => return NestedPrefixSnafu.fail(),
         };
 
+        let prefix = prefix
+            .map(KeyPrefix::from_str)
+            .transpose()
+            .context(KeyPrefixSnafu)?;
+
+        let name = KeyName::from_str(name).context(KeyNameSnafu)?;
+
+        let string = match prefix {
+            Some(ref prefix) => format!("{prefix}/{name}"),
+            None => format!("{name}"),
+        };
+
         let key = Self {
-            prefix: prefix
-                .map(KeyPrefix::from_str)
-                .transpose()
-                .context(KeyPrefixSnafu)?,
-            name: KeyName::from_str(name).context(KeyNameSnafu)?,
+            string,
+            prefix,
+            name,
         };
 
         Ok(key)
@@ -102,10 +122,15 @@ impl TryFrom<&str> for Key {
 
 impl Display for Key {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
-        match &self.prefix {
-            Some(prefix) => write!(f, "{}/{}", prefix, self.name),
-            None => write!(f, "{}", self.name),
-        }
+        write!(f, "{key}", key = self.string)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Deref for Key {
+    type Target = str;
+
+    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+        self.string.as_str()
     }
 }
 
@@ -126,21 +151,6 @@ impl Key {
         self.prefix.as_ref()
     }
 
-    /// Adds or replaces the key prefix. This takes a parsed and validated
-    /// [`KeyPrefix`] as a parameter. If instead you want to use a raw value,
-    /// use the [`Key::try_add_prefix()`] function instead.
-    pub fn add_prefix(&mut self, prefix: KeyPrefix) {
-        self.prefix = Some(prefix)
-    }
-
-    /// Adds or replaces the key prefix by parsing and validation raw input. If
-    /// instead you already have a parsed and validated [`KeyPrefix`], use the
-    /// [`Key::add_prefix()`] function instead.
-    pub fn try_add_prefix(&mut self, prefix: impl AsRef<str>) -> Result<&mut Self, KeyError> {
-        self.prefix = Some(KeyPrefix::from_str(prefix.as_ref()).context(KeyPrefixSnafu)?);
-        Ok(self)
-    }
-
     /// Retrieves the key's name.
     ///
     /// ```
@@ -156,21 +166,6 @@ impl Key {
     pub fn name(&self) -> &KeyName {
         &self.name
     }
-
-    /// Sets the key name. This takes a parsed and validated [`KeyName`] as a
-    /// parameter. If instead you want to use a raw value, use the
-    /// [`Key::try_set_name()`] function instead.
-    pub fn set_name(&mut self, name: KeyName) {
-        self.name = name
-    }
-
-    /// Sets the key name by parsing and validation raw input. If instead you
-    /// already have a parsed and validated [`KeyName`], use the
-    /// [`Key::set_name()`] function instead.
-    pub fn try_set_name(&mut self, name: impl AsRef<str>) -> Result<&mut Self, KeyError> {
-        self.name = KeyName::from_str(name.as_ref()).context(KeyNameSnafu)?;
-        Ok(self)
-    }
 }
 
 /// The error type for key prefix parsing/validation operations.