diff --git a/.changelog/09dc2a7906374b818a70a25a4b238623.json b/.changelog/09dc2a7906374b818a70a25a4b238623.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 37f9e76b424..00000000000
--- a/.changelog/09dc2a7906374b818a70a25a4b238623.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-{
-    "id": "09dc2a79-0637-4b81-8a70-a25a4b238623",
-    "type": "bugfix",
-    "description": "remove url path cleaning logic during http request serialization and deprecate its setting",
-    "modules": [
-        "."
-    ]
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index 8a1927a39ca..26087d36c89 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -3,3 +3,7 @@
 ### SDK Enhancements
 
 ### SDK Bugs
+* `rest`: Remove unnecessary path normalization behavior.
+    * This behavior would incorrectly mutate request paths with URI-encoded characters, potentially resulting in misrouted requests.
+* `config`: Deprecate `DisableRestProtocolURICleaning` config setting.
+    * This setting no longer has any effect. REST-protocol paths will now never be normalized after serialization.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/aws/config.go b/aws/config.go
index a64d720f45e..8a70f763b05 100644
--- a/aws/config.go
+++ b/aws/config.go
@@ -252,21 +252,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	// and specify a Retryer instead.
 	SleepDelay func(time.Duration)
 
-	// DisableRestProtocolURICleaning will not clean the URL path when making rest protocol requests.
-	// Will default to false. This would only be used for empty directory names in s3 requests.
-	//
-	// Example:
-	//    sess := session.Must(session.NewSession(&aws.Config{
-	//         DisableRestProtocolURICleaning: aws.Bool(true),
-	//    }))
-	//
-	//    svc := s3.New(sess)
-	//    out, err := svc.GetObject(&s3.GetObjectInput {
-	//    	Bucket: aws.String("bucketname"),
-	//    	Key: aws.String("//foo//bar//moo"),
-	//    })
-	// Deprecated: DisableRestProtocolURICleaning exists for historical compatibility of
-	// http request path cleaning setting and should not be used.
+	// Deprecated: This setting no longer has any effect.
+	// RESTful paths are no longer cleaned after request serialization.
 	DisableRestProtocolURICleaning *bool
 
 	// EnableEndpointDiscovery will allow for endpoint discovery on operations that
@@ -499,13 +486,6 @@ func (c *Config) WithLowerCaseHeaderMaps(t bool) *Config {
 	return c
 }
 
-// WithDisableRestProtocolURICleaning sets a config DisableRestProtocolURICleaning value
-// returning a Config pointer for chaining.
-func (c *Config) WithDisableRestProtocolURICleaning(t bool) *Config {
-	c.DisableRestProtocolURICleaning = &t
-	return c
-}
-
 // MergeIn merges the passed in configs into the existing config object.
 func (c *Config) MergeIn(cfgs ...*Config) {
 	for _, other := range cfgs {
@@ -610,10 +590,6 @@ func mergeInConfig(dst *Config, other *Config) {
 		dst.SleepDelay = other.SleepDelay
 	}
 
-	if other.DisableRestProtocolURICleaning != nil {
-		dst.DisableRestProtocolURICleaning = other.DisableRestProtocolURICleaning
-	}
-
 	if other.EnforceShouldRetryCheck != nil {
 		dst.EnforceShouldRetryCheck = other.EnforceShouldRetryCheck
 	}
diff --git a/aws/config_test.go b/aws/config_test.go
index 461e514905c..8cbeecdc305 100644
--- a/aws/config_test.go
+++ b/aws/config_test.go
@@ -49,22 +49,21 @@ func TestCopyReturnsNewInstance(t *testing.T) {
 var mergeTestZeroValueConfig = Config{}
 
 var mergeTestConfig = Config{
-	Credentials:                    testCredentials,
-	Endpoint:                       String("MergeTestEndpoint"),
-	Region:                         String("MERGE_TEST_AWS_REGION"),
-	DisableSSL:                     Bool(true),
-	HTTPClient:                     http.DefaultClient,
-	LogLevel:                       LogLevel(LogDebug),
-	Logger:                         NewDefaultLogger(),
-	MaxRetries:                     Int(10),
-	DisableParamValidation:         Bool(true),
-	DisableComputeChecksums:        Bool(true),
-	DisableEndpointHostPrefix:      Bool(true),
-	EnableEndpointDiscovery:        Bool(true),
-	EnforceShouldRetryCheck:        Bool(true),
-	DisableRestProtocolURICleaning: Bool(true),
-	S3ForcePathStyle:               Bool(true),
-	LowerCaseHeaderMaps:            Bool(true),
+	Credentials:               testCredentials,
+	Endpoint:                  String("MergeTestEndpoint"),
+	Region:                    String("MERGE_TEST_AWS_REGION"),
+	DisableSSL:                Bool(true),
+	HTTPClient:                http.DefaultClient,
+	LogLevel:                  LogLevel(LogDebug),
+	Logger:                    NewDefaultLogger(),
+	MaxRetries:                Int(10),
+	DisableParamValidation:    Bool(true),
+	DisableComputeChecksums:   Bool(true),
+	DisableEndpointHostPrefix: Bool(true),
+	EnableEndpointDiscovery:   Bool(true),
+	EnforceShouldRetryCheck:   Bool(true),
+	S3ForcePathStyle:          Bool(true),
+	LowerCaseHeaderMaps:       Bool(true),
 }
 
 var mergeTests = []struct {