diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/RewriteTablePathUtil.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/RewriteTablePathUtil.java
index e72dbef6dbcc..21b3b279423e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/RewriteTablePathUtil.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/RewriteTablePathUtil.java
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public Set<Pair<String, String>> copyPlan() {
    */
   public static TableMetadata replacePaths(
       TableMetadata metadata, String sourcePrefix, String targetPrefix) {
-    String newLocation = metadata.location().replaceFirst(sourcePrefix, targetPrefix);
+    String newLocation = newPath(metadata.location(), sourcePrefix, targetPrefix);
     List<Snapshot> newSnapshots = updatePathInSnapshots(metadata, sourcePrefix, targetPrefix);
     List<TableMetadata.MetadataLogEntry> metadataLogEntries =
         updatePathInMetadataLogs(metadata, sourcePrefix, targetPrefix);
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRewriteTablePathUtil.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRewriteTablePathUtil.java
index 1b0f5f6b1c70..8bc4c6d891c9 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRewriteTablePathUtil.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRewriteTablePathUtil.java
@@ -197,6 +197,47 @@ public void testNewPathBackupRestore() {
         .isEqualTo("/table");
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testReplacePathsTreatsPrefixAsLiteral() {
+    // Prefixes are literal paths, not regular expressions. A prefix containing regex
+    // metacharacters must match only itself.
+    String sourcePrefix = "s3://bucket/warehouse.db/table";
+    String targetPrefix = "s3://bucket/restored.db/table";
+    TableMetadata metadata =
+        TableMetadata.newTableMetadata(
+            SCHEMA, PartitionSpec.unpartitioned(), sourcePrefix, ImmutableMap.of());
+
+    TableMetadata replaced =
+        RewriteTablePathUtil.replacePaths(metadata, sourcePrefix, targetPrefix);
+    assertThat(replaced.location()).isEqualTo(targetPrefix);
+
+    // The '.' in the source prefix must not match an arbitrary character, so a location that
+    // only matches when the prefix is read as a regex is rejected.
+    TableMetadata unrelated =
+        TableMetadata.newTableMetadata(
+            SCHEMA,
+            PartitionSpec.unpartitioned(),
+            "s3://bucket/warehouseXdb/table",
+            ImmutableMap.of());
+    assertThatThrownBy(
+            () -> RewriteTablePathUtil.replacePaths(unrelated, sourcePrefix, targetPrefix))
+        .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
+        .hasMessageContaining("does not start with");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testReplacePathsWithTrailingSeparatorInPrefix() {
+    // A source prefix with a trailing separator still matches the table location.
+    String location = "s3://bucket/warehouse/table";
+    TableMetadata metadata =
+        TableMetadata.newTableMetadata(
+            SCHEMA, PartitionSpec.unpartitioned(), location, ImmutableMap.of());
+
+    TableMetadata replaced =
+        RewriteTablePathUtil.replacePaths(metadata, location + "/", "s3://bucket/restored/table");
+    assertThat(replaced.location()).isEqualTo("s3://bucket/restored/table");
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testNewPathTableRename() {
     // Rename /tableX to /table (target is substring of source name)