diff --git a/pkg/distributor/tenant_topic_tee.go b/pkg/distributor/tenant_topic_tee.go
index 7d7ad84e7bc53..60ea6bc2bdd8d 100644
--- a/pkg/distributor/tenant_topic_tee.go
+++ b/pkg/distributor/tenant_topic_tee.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/go-kit/log"
@@ -52,6 +54,35 @@ func ParseStrategy(s string) (Strategy, error) {
 	}
 }
 
+// codec for `<prefix>.<tenant>.<shard>` topics
+type TenantPrefixCodec string
+
+func (c TenantPrefixCodec) Encode(tenant string, shard int32) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s.%d", c, tenant, shard)
+}
+
+func (c TenantPrefixCodec) Decode(s string) (tenant string, shard int32, err error) {
+	suffix, ok := strings.CutPrefix(s, string(c)+".")
+	if !ok {
+		return "", 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid format: %s", s)
+	}
+
+	rem := strings.Split(suffix, ".")
+
+	if len(rem) < 2 {
+		return "", 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid format: %s", s)
+	}
+
+	n, err := strconv.Atoi(rem[len(rem)-1])
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid format: %s", s)
+	}
+
+	tenant = strings.Join(rem[:len(rem)-1], ".")
+
+	return tenant, int32(n), nil
+}
+
 // TenantTopicConfig configures the TenantTopicWriter
 type TenantTopicConfig struct {
 	Enabled bool `yaml:"enabled"`
@@ -154,8 +185,8 @@ func (r *SimplePartitionResolver) Resolve(_ context.Context, tenant string, tota
 // 4. Returns the topic name with partition 0 (since each topic has exactly one partition)
 type ShardedPartitionResolver struct {
 	sync.RWMutex
-	admin       *kadm.Client
-	topicPrefix string
+	admin *kadm.Client
+	codec TenantPrefixCodec
 
 	sflight singleflight.Group // for topic creation
 	// tenantShards maps tenant IDs to their active shards
@@ -167,7 +198,7 @@ type ShardedPartitionResolver struct {
 func NewShardedPartitionResolver(kafkaClient *kgo.Client, topicPrefix string) *ShardedPartitionResolver {
 	return &ShardedPartitionResolver{
 		admin:        kadm.NewClient(kafkaClient),
-		topicPrefix:  topicPrefix,
+		codec:        TenantPrefixCodec(topicPrefix),
 		tenantShards: make(map[string]map[int32]struct{}),
 	}
 }
@@ -187,7 +218,7 @@ func (r *ShardedPartitionResolver) Resolve(ctx context.Context, tenant string, t
 		_, shardExists := shards[shard]
 		if shardExists {
 			r.RUnlock()
-			return r.topicName(tenant, shard), 0, nil
+			return r.codec.Encode(tenant, shard), 0, nil
 		}
 	}
 	r.RUnlock()
@@ -197,13 +228,13 @@ func (r *ShardedPartitionResolver) Resolve(ctx context.Context, tenant string, t
 		return "", 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to create shard: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	return r.topicName(tenant, shard), 0, nil
+	return r.codec.Encode(tenant, shard), 0, nil
 }
 
 // createShard creates a new topic for the given tenant and shard.
 // It handles the case where the topic already exists.
 func (r *ShardedPartitionResolver) createShard(ctx context.Context, tenant string, shard int32) error {
-	topic := r.topicName(tenant, shard)
+	topic := r.codec.Encode(tenant, shard)
 	replicationFactor := 2 // TODO: expose RF
 
 	_, err, _ := r.sflight.Do(topic, func() (interface{}, error) {
@@ -235,11 +266,6 @@ func (r *ShardedPartitionResolver) createShard(ctx context.Context, tenant strin
 	return nil
 }
 
-// topicName returns the topic name for a given tenant and shard
-func (r *ShardedPartitionResolver) topicName(tenant string, shard int32) string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s.%d", r.topicPrefix, tenant, shard)
-}
-
 // TenantTopicWriter implements the Tee interface by writing logs to Kafka topics
 // based on tenant IDs. Each tenant's logs are written to a dedicated topic.
 type TenantTopicWriter struct {
diff --git a/pkg/distributor/tenant_topic_tee_test.go b/pkg/distributor/tenant_topic_tee_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d82179e7f0156
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/distributor/tenant_topic_tee_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package distributor
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestTenantPrefixCodec(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name        string
+		codec       TenantPrefixCodec
+		tenant      string
+		shard       int32
+		encoded     string
+		expectedErr string
+		decodeOnly  bool // for testing invalid decode cases
+	}{
+		{
+			name:    "simple tenant and prefix",
+			codec:   "prefix",
+			tenant:  "tenant1",
+			shard:   1,
+			encoded: "prefix.tenant1.1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "tenant with dots",
+			codec:   "prefix",
+			tenant:  "tenant.with.dots",
+			shard:   2,
+			encoded: "prefix.tenant.with.dots.2",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "prefix with dots",
+			codec:   "prefix.with.dots",
+			tenant:  "tenant1",
+			shard:   3,
+			encoded: "prefix.with.dots.tenant1.3",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "both tenant and prefix with dots",
+			codec:   "prefix.with.dots",
+			tenant:  "tenant.with.dots",
+			shard:   4,
+			encoded: "prefix.with.dots.tenant.with.dots.4",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "invalid format - missing prefix",
+			codec:       "prefix",
+			encoded:     "wrongprefix.tenant1.1",
+			decodeOnly:  true,
+			expectedErr: "invalid format: wrongprefix.tenant1.1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "invalid format - missing shard",
+			codec:       "prefix",
+			encoded:     "prefix.tenant1",
+			decodeOnly:  true,
+			expectedErr: "invalid format: prefix.tenant1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "invalid format - non-numeric shard",
+			codec:       "prefix",
+			encoded:     "prefix.tenant1.abc",
+			decodeOnly:  true,
+			expectedErr: "invalid format: prefix.tenant1.abc",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if !tt.decodeOnly {
+				// Test encode
+				encoded := tt.codec.Encode(tt.tenant, tt.shard)
+				require.Equal(t, tt.encoded, encoded)
+
+				// Test encode/decode roundtrip
+				decodedTenant, decodedShard, err := tt.codec.Decode(encoded)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+				require.Equal(t, tt.tenant, decodedTenant)
+				require.Equal(t, tt.shard, decodedShard)
+			} else {
+				// Test decode error cases
+				tenant, shard, err := tt.codec.Decode(tt.encoded)
+				require.Error(t, err)
+				require.Equal(t, tt.expectedErr, err.Error())
+				require.Equal(t, "", tenant)
+				require.Equal(t, int32(0), shard)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}