diff --git a/cmd/k8s-operator/sts.go b/cmd/k8s-operator/sts.go
index c4ad2cf1c..3104d2775 100644
--- a/cmd/k8s-operator/sts.go
+++ b/cmd/k8s-operator/sts.go
@@ -222,10 +222,8 @@ func statefulSetNameBase(parent string) string {
 		if excess <= 0 {
 			return base
 		}
-		base = base[:len(base)-1-excess]   // cut off the excess chars
-		if !strings.HasSuffix(base, "-") { // dash may have been cut by the generator
-			base = base + "-"
-		}
+		base = base[:len(base)-1-excess] // cut off the excess chars
+		base = base + "-"                // re-instate the dash
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/k8s-operator/sts_test.go b/cmd/k8s-operator/sts_test.go
index a31775ee0..0d0fe746b 100644
--- a/cmd/k8s-operator/sts_test.go
+++ b/cmd/k8s-operator/sts_test.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func Test_statefulSetNameBase(t *testing.T) {
 		if _, err := b.WriteString("a"); err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("error writing to string builder: %v", err)
 		}
-		baseLength := len(b.String())
+		baseLength := b.Len()
 		if baseLength > 43 {
 			baseLength = 43 // currently 43 is the max base length
 		}