diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index ea83721bd..175f4eb66 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -73,14 +73,14 @@ function parseCapsForInnerDriver (jsonwpCapabilities, w3cCapabilities, constrain
         // Check if the key is already present in firstMatch entries
         for (const firstMatchEntry of (w3cCapabilities.firstMatch || [])) {
           if (_.isPlainObject(firstMatchEntry)
-              && _.has(removeW3CPrefixes(firstMatchEntry), removeW3CPrefix(defaultCapKey))) {
+              && _.has(removeAppiumPrefixes(firstMatchEntry), removeAppiumPrefix(defaultCapKey))) {
             isCapAlreadySet = true;
             break;
           }
         }
         // Check if the key is already present in alwaysMatch entries
         isCapAlreadySet = isCapAlreadySet || (_.isPlainObject(w3cCapabilities.alwaysMatch)
-          && _.has(removeW3CPrefixes(w3cCapabilities.alwaysMatch), removeW3CPrefix(defaultCapKey)));
+          && _.has(removeAppiumPrefixes(w3cCapabilities.alwaysMatch), removeAppiumPrefix(defaultCapKey)));
         if (isCapAlreadySet) {
           // Skip if the key is already present in the provided caps
           continue;
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ function parseCapsForInnerDriver (jsonwpCapabilities, w3cCapabilities, constrain
       }
     }
     if (hasJSONWPCaps) {
-      jsonwpCapabilities = Object.assign({}, removeW3CPrefixes(defaultCapabilities), jsonwpCapabilities);
+      jsonwpCapabilities = Object.assign({}, removeAppiumPrefixes(defaultCapabilities), jsonwpCapabilities);
     }
   }
 
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ function parseCapsForInnerDriver (jsonwpCapabilities, w3cCapabilities, constrain
   if (hasJSONWPCaps) {
     protocol = MJSONWP;
     desiredCaps = jsonwpCapabilities;
-    processedJsonwpCapabilities = removeW3CPrefixes({...desiredCaps});
+    processedJsonwpCapabilities = {...jsonwpCapabilities};
   }
 
   // Get W3C caps
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function parseCapsForInnerDriver (jsonwpCapabilities, w3cCapabilities, constrain
     }
 
     if (hasJSONWPCaps && !isFixingNeededForW3cCaps) {
-      const differingKeys = _.difference(_.keys(processedJsonwpCapabilities), _.keys(removeW3CPrefixes(desiredCaps)));
+      const differingKeys = _.difference(_.keys(removeAppiumPrefixes(processedJsonwpCapabilities)), _.keys(removeAppiumPrefixes(desiredCaps)));
       if (!_.isEmpty(differingKeys)) {
         logger.info(`The following capabilities were provided in the JSONWP desired capabilities that are missing ` +
           `in W3C capabilities: ${JSON.stringify(differingKeys)}`);
@@ -233,21 +233,21 @@ function insertAppiumPrefixes (caps) {
   return prefixedCaps;
 }
 
-function removeW3CPrefixes (caps) {
+function removeAppiumPrefixes (caps) {
   if (!_.isPlainObject(caps)) {
     return caps;
   }
 
   const fixedCaps = {};
   for (let [name, value] of _.toPairs(caps)) {
-    fixedCaps[removeW3CPrefix(name)] = value;
+    fixedCaps[removeAppiumPrefix(name)] = value;
   }
   return fixedCaps;
 }
 
-function removeW3CPrefix (key) {
-  const colonPos = key.indexOf(':');
-  return colonPos > 0 && key.length > colonPos ? key.substring(colonPos + 1) : key;
+function removeAppiumPrefix (key) {
+  const prefix = `${W3C_APPIUM_PREFIX}:`;
+  return _.startsWith(key, prefix) ? key.substring(prefix.length) : key;
 }
 
 function getPackageVersion (pkgName) {
@@ -293,5 +293,5 @@ const rootDir = findRoot(__dirname);
 
 export {
   inspectObject, parseCapsForInnerDriver, insertAppiumPrefixes, rootDir,
-  getPackageVersion, pullSettings,
+  getPackageVersion, pullSettings, removeAppiumPrefixes,
 };
diff --git a/test/utils-specs.js b/test/utils-specs.js
index 2ee83c9c4..264e980d3 100644
--- a/test/utils-specs.js
+++ b/test/utils-specs.js
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import chai from 'chai';
 import chaiAsPromised from 'chai-as-promised';
 import {
-  parseCapsForInnerDriver, insertAppiumPrefixes, pullSettings } from '../lib/utils';
+  parseCapsForInnerDriver, insertAppiumPrefixes, pullSettings,
+  removeAppiumPrefixes,
+} from '../lib/utils';
 import { BASE_CAPS, W3C_CAPS } from './helpers';
 import _ from 'lodash';
 
@@ -88,7 +90,7 @@ describe('utils', function () {
         'appium:foo2': 'bar2',
       });
       desiredCaps.should.deep.equal({foo: 'baz', foo2: 'baz2', ...BASE_CAPS});
-      processedJsonwpCapabilities.should.deep.equal({foo: 'baz', foo2: 'baz2', ...BASE_CAPS});
+      processedJsonwpCapabilities.should.deep.equal({foo: 'baz', foo2: 'bar2', 'appium:foo2': 'baz2', ...BASE_CAPS});
       processedW3CCapabilities.alwaysMatch.should.deep.equal({'appium:foo': 'baz', 'appium:foo2': 'baz2', ...insertAppiumPrefixes(BASE_CAPS)});
     });
     it('should reject if W3C caps are not passing constraints', function () {
@@ -172,6 +174,20 @@ describe('utils', function () {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('removeAppiumPrefixes()', function () {
+    it('should remove appium prefixes from cap names', function () {
+      removeAppiumPrefixes({
+        'appium:cap1': 'value1',
+        'ms:cap2': 'value2',
+        someCap: 'someCap',
+      }).should.eql({
+        'cap1': 'value1',
+        'ms:cap2': 'value2',
+        someCap: 'someCap',
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('insertAppiumPrefixes()', function () {
     it('should apply prefixes to non-standard capabilities', function () {
       insertAppiumPrefixes({