diff --git a/pkg/compose/helper.go b/pkg/compose/helper.go
index ff97305ec..47ec9aed9 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/helper.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/helper.go
@@ -371,13 +371,18 @@ func (h *ComposeHelper) SanitizeProjectName(name string) string {
 	return h.toProjectName(name)
 }
 
+var (
+	oldProjectNameRegex = regexp.MustCompile("[^a-z0-9]")
+	newProjectNameRegex = regexp.MustCompile("[^-_a-z0-9]")
+)
+
 func (h *ComposeHelper) toProjectName(projectName string) string {
 	useNewProjectNameFormat, _ := h.useNewProjectName()
 	if !useNewProjectNameFormat {
-		return regexp.MustCompile("[^a-z0-9]").ReplaceAllString(strings.ToLower(projectName), "")
+		return oldProjectNameRegex.ReplaceAllString(strings.ToLower(projectName), "")
 	}
 
-	return regexp.MustCompile("[^-_a-z0-9]").ReplaceAllString(strings.ToLower(projectName), "")
+	return newProjectNameRegex.ReplaceAllString(strings.ToLower(projectName), "")
 }
 
 func (h *ComposeHelper) buildCmd(ctx context.Context, args ...string) *exec.Cmd {
diff --git a/pkg/compose/helper_bench_test.go b/pkg/compose/helper_bench_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..afaa07f30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/compose/helper_bench_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package compose
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func BenchmarkToProjectName(b *testing.B) {
+	helper := &ComposeHelper{
+		Version: "1.29.2", // Old version format
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		helper.toProjectName("My_Project-Name")
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkToProjectName_NewFormat(b *testing.B) {
+	helper := &ComposeHelper{
+		Version: "2.0.0", // New version format
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		helper.toProjectName("My_Project-Name")
+	}
+}