diff --git a/pkg/entity/flag_test.go b/pkg/entity/flag_test.go
index a1d3e7c9..9bfb9d3b 100644
--- a/pkg/entity/flag_test.go
+++ b/pkg/entity/flag_test.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func TestCreateFlagKey(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	t.Run("invalid key", func(t *testing.T) {
-		key, err := CreateFlagKey("1-2-3")
+		key, err := CreateFlagKey(" spaces in key are not allowed 1-2-3")
 		assert.Error(t, err)
 		assert.Zero(t, key)
 	})
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func TestCreateFlagEntityType(t *testing.T) {
 		f := GenFixtureFlag()
 		db := PopulateTestDB(f)
 
-		err := CreateFlagEntityType(db, "123-invalid-key")
+		err := CreateFlagEntityType(db, " spaces in key are not allowed 123-invalid-key")
 		assert.Error(t, err)
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/handler/crud_test.go b/pkg/handler/crud_test.go
index 56dec80f..e6ede4f7 100644
--- a/pkg/handler/crud_test.go
+++ b/pkg/handler/crud_test.go
@@ -191,8 +191,8 @@ func TestCrudFlagsWithFailures(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("CreateFlag - invalid key error", func(t *testing.T) {
 		res = c.CreateFlag(flag.CreateFlagParams{
 			Body: &models.CreateFlagRequest{
-				Description: util.StringPtr("funny flag"),
-				Key:         "1-2-3", // invalid key
+				Description: util.StringPtr(" flag with a space"),
+				Key:         " 1-2-3", // invalid key
 			},
 		})
 		assert.NotZero(t, res.(*flag.CreateFlagDefault).Payload)
@@ -811,7 +811,7 @@ func TestCrudVariantsWithFailures(t *testing.T) {
 		res = c.CreateVariant(variant.CreateVariantParams{
 			FlagID: int64(1),
 			Body: &models.CreateVariantRequest{
-				Key: util.StringPtr("123_invalid_key"),
+				Key: util.StringPtr(" 123_invalid_key"),
 			},
 		})
 		assert.NotZero(t, res.(*variant.CreateVariantDefault).Payload)
@@ -868,7 +868,7 @@ func TestCrudVariantsWithFailures(t *testing.T) {
 			FlagID:    int64(1),
 			VariantID: int64(1),
 			Body: &models.PutVariantRequest{
-				Key: util.StringPtr("123_invalid_key"),
+				Key: util.StringPtr(" spaces in key 123_invalid_key"),
 			},
 		})
 		assert.NotZero(t, *res.(*variant.PutVariantDefault).Payload)
diff --git a/pkg/util/util.go b/pkg/util/util.go
index cfd08918..b3d0baaf 100644
--- a/pkg/util/util.go
+++ b/pkg/util/util.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	keyLengthLimit = 63
-	keyRegex       = regexp.MustCompile("^[a-z]+[a-z0-9_]*$")
+	keyRegex       = regexp.MustCompile(`^[\w\d-]+$`)
 
 	randomKeyCharset = []byte("123456789abcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz")
 	randomKeyPrefix  = "k"
diff --git a/pkg/util/util_test.go b/pkg/util/util_test.go
index 3e2379a8..87adda69 100644
--- a/pkg/util/util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/util_test.go
@@ -82,12 +82,16 @@ func TestIsSafeKey(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Empty(t, msg)
 
 	b, msg = IsSafeKey("1a")
+	assert.True(t, b)
+	assert.Empty(t, msg)
+
+	b, msg = IsSafeKey(" spaces in key are not allowed ")
 	assert.False(t, b)
-	assert.NotEmpty(t, msg)
+	assert.NotEmpty(t, msg)	
 
 	b, msg = IsSafeKey("_a")
-	assert.False(t, b)
-	assert.NotEmpty(t, msg)
+	assert.True(t, b)
+	assert.Empty(t, msg)
 
 	b, msg = IsSafeKey(strings.Repeat("a", 64))
 	assert.False(t, b)