diff --git a/mteb/models/model_implementations/cohere_models.py b/mteb/models/model_implementations/cohere_models.py
index 50f9ccae87..80529d6971 100644
--- a/mteb/models/model_implementations/cohere_models.py
+++ b/mteb/models/model_implementations/cohere_models.py
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ def __init__(
     ) -> None:
         import cohere  # type: ignore
 
-        self.model_name = model_name.lstrip("Cohere/Cohere-")
+        self.model_name = model_name.removeprefix("Cohere/Cohere-")
         self.sep = sep
         self.model_prompts = self.validate_task_to_prompt_name(model_prompts)
         if embedding_type not in get_args(EmbeddingType):