diff --git a/ibm_catalog.json b/ibm_catalog.json
index f2dec868..60fd5cc8 100644
--- a/ibm_catalog.json
+++ b/ibm_catalog.json
@@ -128,7 +128,9 @@
               "key": "resource_group_name"
             },
             {
-              "key": "prefix"
+              "key": "prefix",
+              "required": true,
+              "description":"Prefix to add to all resources created by this solution. To not use any prefix value, you can enter the string `__NULL__`."
             },
             {
               "key": "name"
diff --git a/solutions/standard/main.tf b/solutions/standard/main.tf
index d823f798..39e3055a 100644
--- a/solutions/standard/main.tf
+++ b/solutions/standard/main.tf
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 module "resource_group" {
   source                       = "terraform-ibm-modules/resource-group/ibm"
   version                      = "1.1.6"
-  resource_group_name          = var.use_existing_resource_group == false ? (var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.resource_group_name}" : var.resource_group_name) : null
+  resource_group_name          = var.use_existing_resource_group == false ? ((var.prefix != null && var.prefix != "") ? "${var.prefix}-${var.resource_group_name}" : var.resource_group_name) : null
   existing_resource_group_name = var.use_existing_resource_group == true ? var.resource_group_name : null
 }
 
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ locals {
 
 locals {
   create_new_kms_key     = !var.use_ibm_owned_encryption_key && var.existing_kms_key_crn == null ? true : false # no need to create any KMS resources if passing an existing key, or using IBM owned keys
-  postgres_key_name      = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.key_name}" : var.key_name
-  postgres_key_ring_name = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.key_ring_name}" : var.key_ring_name
+  postgres_key_name      = (var.prefix != null && var.prefix != "") ? "${var.prefix}-${var.key_name}" : var.key_name
+  postgres_key_ring_name = (var.prefix != null && var.prefix != "") ? "${var.prefix}-${var.key_ring_name}" : var.key_ring_name
 }
 
 module "kms" {
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ module "postgresql_db" {
   source                            = "../../modules/fscloud"
   depends_on                        = [time_sleep.wait_for_authorization_policy, time_sleep.wait_for_backup_kms_authorization_policy]
   resource_group_id                 = module.resource_group.resource_group_id
-  name                              = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.name}" : var.name
+  name                              = (var.prefix != null && var.prefix != "") ? "${var.prefix}-${var.name}" : var.name
   region                            = var.region
   remote_leader_crn                 = var.remote_leader_crn
   skip_iam_authorization_policy     = var.skip_pg_kms_auth_policy
diff --git a/solutions/standard/variables.tf b/solutions/standard/variables.tf
index 773bdc47..7dfdd084 100644
--- a/solutions/standard/variables.tf
+++ b/solutions/standard/variables.tf
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ variable "resource_group_name" {
 
 variable "prefix" {
   type        = string
-  description = "Prefix to add to all resources created by this solution."
-  default     = null
+  description = "Prefix to add to all resources created by this solution. To not use any prefix value, you can set this value to `null` or an empty string."
+  default     = "postgresql"
 }
 
 variable "name" {