diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ba4f328..99830e2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "asset-classification-smart-contract"
-version = "3.4.0"
+version = "3.4.1"
 dependencies = [
  "bech32 0.8.1",
  "cosmwasm-schema",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 10bb074..32c112f 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "asset-classification-smart-contract"
-version = "3.4.0"
+version = "3.4.1"
 authors = [
   "Jake Schwartz <jschwartz@figure.com>",
   "Pierce Trey <ptrey@figure.com>",
diff --git a/src/core/state.rs b/src/core/state.rs
index 4b9de0a..890f580 100644
--- a/src/core/state.rs
+++ b/src/core/state.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 use super::error::ContractError;
 
-const STATE_V2_KEY: &str = "state_v2";
+const STATE_V2_KEY: &str = "\x00\x08state_v2"; // Special characters added to allow seamless upgrade from cosmwasm-storage to cw-storage-plus
 pub const STATE_V2: Item<StateV2> = Item::new(STATE_V2_KEY);
 
 const FEE_PAYMENT_DETAIL_NAMESPACE: &str = "fee_payment_detail";
@@ -564,4 +564,14 @@ mod tests {
             err,
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_basic_state_key_is_expected_value() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            "000873746174655f7632",
+            cosmwasm_std::to_hex(crate::core::state::STATE_V2_KEY.as_bytes())
+                .as_str()
+                .to_lowercase()
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration_tests.rs b/tests/integration_tests.rs
index f18da37..1e1d753 100644
--- a/tests/integration_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/integration_tests.rs
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ use uuid::Uuid;
 fn get_contract_wasm_bytes() -> &'static Vec<u8> {
     use std::sync::OnceLock;
 
-    static OPTIMIZED_CONTRACT_WASM_PATH: OnceLock<Vec<u8>> = OnceLock::new();
-    OPTIMIZED_CONTRACT_WASM_PATH.get_or_init(|| {
+    static OPTIMIZED_CONTRACT_WASM: OnceLock<Vec<u8>> = OnceLock::new();
+    OPTIMIZED_CONTRACT_WASM.get_or_init(|| {
         let file_path = std::env::var("OPTIMIZED_CONTRACT_WASM_PATH").unwrap_or(String::from(
             "./artifacts/asset_classification_smart_contract.wasm",
         ));
@@ -62,9 +62,8 @@ fn happy_path_onboard_and_verify_asset() {
     });
 
     let wasm = Wasm::new(&app);
-    let wasm_byte_code = get_contract_wasm_bytes();
     let store_res = wasm
-        .store_code(&wasm_byte_code, None, admin)
+        .store_code(get_contract_wasm_bytes(), None, admin)
         .expect("storing the WASM code should succeed");
     let code_id = store_res.data.code_id;
     assert_eq!(code_id, 1);