diff --git a/Penumbra/Meta/Manipulations/ShpIdentifier.cs b/Penumbra/Meta/Manipulations/ShpIdentifier.cs
index fffa51ba..c642167f 100644
--- a/Penumbra/Meta/Manipulations/ShpIdentifier.cs
+++ b/Penumbra/Meta/Manipulations/ShpIdentifier.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-using Lumina.Models.Models;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 using Penumbra.GameData.Data;
@@ -61,34 +60,16 @@ public readonly record struct ShpIdentifier(HumanSlot Slot, PrimaryId? Id, Shape
         return ValidateCustomShapeString(Shape);
     }
 
-    public static bool ValidateCustomShapeString(ReadOnlySpan<byte> shape)
-    {
-        // "shp_xx_y"
-        if (shape.Length < 8)
-            return false;
-
-        if (shape[0] is not (byte)'s'
-         || shape[1] is not (byte)'h'
-         || shape[2] is not (byte)'p'
-         || shape[3] is not (byte)'_'
-         || shape[6] is not (byte)'_')
-            return false;
-
-        return true;
-    }
-
     public static unsafe bool ValidateCustomShapeString(byte* shape)
     {
-        // "shp_xx_y"
+        // "shpx_*"
         if (shape is null)
             return false;
 
         if (*shape++ is not (byte)'s'
          || *shape++ is not (byte)'h'
          || *shape++ is not (byte)'p'
-         || *shape++ is not (byte)'_'
-         || *shape++ is 0
-         || *shape++ is 0
+         || *shape++ is not (byte)'x'
          || *shape++ is not (byte)'_'
          || *shape is 0)
             return false;
@@ -98,16 +79,16 @@ public readonly record struct ShpIdentifier(HumanSlot Slot, PrimaryId? Id, Shape
 
     public static bool ValidateCustomShapeString(in ShapeString shape)
     {
-        // "shp_xx_y"
-        if (shape.Length < 8)
+        // "shpx_*"
+        if (shape.Length < 6)
             return false;
 
         var span = shape.AsSpan;
         if (span[0] is not (byte)'s'
          || span[1] is not (byte)'h'
          || span[2] is not (byte)'p'
-         || span[3] is not (byte)'_'
-         || span[6] is not (byte)'_')
+         || span[3] is not (byte)'x'
+         || span[4] is not (byte)'_')
             return false;
 
         return true;
diff --git a/Penumbra/Meta/ShapeManager.cs b/Penumbra/Meta/ShapeManager.cs
index ec8ddb50..dc3e1a1c 100644
--- a/Penumbra/Meta/ShapeManager.cs
+++ b/Penumbra/Meta/ShapeManager.cs
@@ -93,13 +93,13 @@ public class ShapeManager : IRequiredService, IDisposable
     {
         foreach (var (shape, topIndex) in _temporaryIndices[1])
         {
-            if (shape[4] is (byte)'w' && shape[5] is (byte)'r' && _temporaryIndices[2].TryGetValue(shape, out var handIndex))
+            if (CheckCenter(shape, 'w', 'r') && _temporaryIndices[2].TryGetValue(shape, out var handIndex))
             {
                 _temporaryValues[1] |= 1u << topIndex;
                 _temporaryValues[2] |= 1u << handIndex;
             }
 
-            if (shape[4] is (byte)'w' && shape[5] is (byte)'a' && _temporaryIndices[3].TryGetValue(shape, out var legIndex))
+            if (CheckCenter(shape, 'w', 'a') && _temporaryIndices[3].TryGetValue(shape, out var legIndex))
             {
                 _temporaryValues[1] |= 1u << topIndex;
                 _temporaryValues[3] |= 1u << legIndex;
@@ -108,11 +108,15 @@ public class ShapeManager : IRequiredService, IDisposable
 
         foreach (var (shape, bottomIndex) in _temporaryIndices[3])
         {
-            if (shape[4] is (byte)'a' && shape[5] is (byte)'n' && _temporaryIndices[4].TryGetValue(shape, out var footIndex))
+            if (CheckCenter(shape, 'a', 'n') && _temporaryIndices[4].TryGetValue(shape, out var footIndex))
             {
                 _temporaryValues[3] |= 1u << bottomIndex;
                 _temporaryValues[4] |= 1u << footIndex;
             }
         }
     }
+
+    [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.AggressiveInlining | MethodImplOptions.AggressiveOptimization)]
+    private static bool CheckCenter(in ShapeString shape, char first, char second)
+        => shape.Length > 8 && shape[4] == first && shape[5] == second && shape[6] is (byte)'_';
 }
diff --git a/Penumbra/UI/AdvancedWindow/Meta/ShpMetaDrawer.cs b/Penumbra/UI/AdvancedWindow/Meta/ShpMetaDrawer.cs
index 4be6e6aa..2c99af02 100644
--- a/Penumbra/UI/AdvancedWindow/Meta/ShpMetaDrawer.cs
+++ b/Penumbra/UI/AdvancedWindow/Meta/ShpMetaDrawer.cs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ public sealed class ShpMetaDrawer(ModMetaEditor editor, MetaFileManager metaFile
     public override ReadOnlySpan<byte> Label
         => "Shape Keys (SHP)###SHP"u8;
 
-    private ShapeString _buffer = ShapeString.TryRead("shp_"u8, out var s) ? s : ShapeString.Empty;
+    private ShapeString _buffer = ShapeString.TryRead("shpx_"u8, out var s) ? s : ShapeString.Empty;
     private bool        _identifierValid;
 
     public override int NumColumns
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ public sealed class ShpMetaDrawer(ModMetaEditor editor, MetaFileManager metaFile
             }
         }
 
-        ImUtf8.HoverTooltip("Supported shape keys need to have the format `shp_xx_*` and a maximum length of 30 characters."u8);
+        ImUtf8.HoverTooltip("Supported shape keys need to have the format `shpx_*` and a maximum length of 30 characters."u8);
         return ret;
     }
 
diff --git a/schemas/structs/meta_shp.json b/schemas/structs/meta_shp.json
index e6b66420..197f3104 100644
--- a/schemas/structs/meta_shp.json
+++ b/schemas/structs/meta_shp.json
@@ -13,8 +13,9 @@
         },
         "Shape": {
             "type": "string",
-            "minLength": 8,
-            "maxLength": 30
+            "minLength": 5,
+            "maxLength": 30,
+            "pattern": "^shpx_"
         }
     },
     "required": [