diff --git a/constants.go b/constants.go
index 2ff3b135bc36e..403c0da2721c6 100644
--- a/constants.go
+++ b/constants.go
@@ -799,3 +799,9 @@ const (
 	// the upgraded connection should be handled by the ALPN handler.
 	WebAPIConnUpgradeTypeALPN = "alpn"
 )
+
+const (
+	// KubeLegacyProxySuffix is the suffix used for legacy proxy services when
+	// generating their names Server names.
+	KubeLegacyProxySuffix = "-proxy_service"
+)
diff --git a/lib/auth/auth_with_roles.go b/lib/auth/auth_with_roles.go
index 0e6c1c0cf3405..94bfca977780d 100644
--- a/lib/auth/auth_with_roles.go
+++ b/lib/auth/auth_with_roles.go
@@ -1167,12 +1167,22 @@ func (a *ServerWithRoles) KeepAliveServer(ctx context.Context, handle types.Keep
 				return trace.AccessDenied("access denied")
 			}
 		} else { // DELETE IN 13.0. Legacy kubeservice server is heartbeating back.
-			if serverName != handle.Name {
+			name := handle.Name
+			// legacy kube proxy server is heartbeating kubernetes clusters
+			// with the server name suffixed with "-proxy_service".
+			// To compare the server name with the name in the heartbeat
+			// we need to remove the suffix.
+			if a.hasBuiltinRole(types.RoleProxy) {
+				name = strings.TrimSuffix(name, teleport.KubeLegacyProxySuffix)
+			}
+			if name != serverName {
 				return trace.AccessDenied("access denied")
 			}
 		}
 
-		if !a.hasBuiltinRole(types.RoleKube) {
+		// Legacy kube proxy can heartbeat kube servers from the proxy itself so
+		// we need to check if the host has the Kube or Proxy role.
+		if !a.hasBuiltinRole(types.RoleKube, types.RoleProxy) {
 			return trace.AccessDenied("access denied")
 		}
 		if err := a.action(apidefaults.Namespace, types.KindKubeServer, types.VerbUpdate); err != nil {
diff --git a/lib/auth/auth_with_roles_test.go b/lib/auth/auth_with_roles_test.go
index 4a6c9484ea477..3e8d9fb43558f 100644
--- a/lib/auth/auth_with_roles_test.go
+++ b/lib/auth/auth_with_roles_test.go
@@ -3272,7 +3272,6 @@ func TestListResources_SearchAsRoles(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 		})
 	}
-
 }
 
 func TestGetAndList_WindowsDesktops(t *testing.T) {
@@ -4697,3 +4696,93 @@ func createSnowflakeSessionTestUsers(t *testing.T, authServer *Server) (string,
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	return "alice", "bob", "admin"
 }
+
+func TestKubeKeepAliveServer(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	srv := newTestTLSServer(t)
+	domainName, err := srv.Auth().GetDomainName()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	tests := map[string]struct {
+		builtInRole types.SystemRole
+		assertErr   require.ErrorAssertionFunc
+	}{
+		"as kube service": {
+			builtInRole: types.RoleKube,
+			assertErr:   require.NoError,
+		},
+		"as legacy proxy service": {
+			builtInRole: types.RoleProxy,
+			assertErr:   require.NoError,
+		},
+		"as database service": {
+			builtInRole: types.RoleDatabase,
+			assertErr:   require.Error,
+		},
+	}
+	for name, test := range tests {
+		test := test
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+			hostID := uuid.New().String()
+			// Create a kubernetes cluster.
+			kube, err := types.NewKubernetesClusterV3(
+				types.Metadata{
+					Name:      "kube",
+					Namespace: defaults.Namespace,
+				},
+				types.KubernetesClusterSpecV3{},
+			)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			// Create a kubernetes server.
+			// If the built-in role is proxy, the server name should be
+			// kube-proxy_service
+			serverName := "kube"
+			if test.builtInRole == types.RoleProxy {
+				serverName += teleport.KubeLegacyProxySuffix
+			}
+			kubeServer, err := types.NewKubernetesServerV3(
+				types.Metadata{
+					Name:      serverName,
+					Namespace: defaults.Namespace,
+				},
+				types.KubernetesServerSpecV3{
+					Cluster: kube,
+					HostID:  hostID,
+				},
+			)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			// Upsert the kubernetes server into the backend.
+			_, err = srv.Auth().UpsertKubernetesServer(context.Background(), kubeServer)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			// Create a built-in role.
+			authContext, err := contextForBuiltinRole(
+				BuiltinRole{
+					Role:     test.builtInRole,
+					Username: fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s", hostID, domainName),
+				},
+				types.DefaultSessionRecordingConfig(),
+			)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			// Create a server with the built-in role.
+			srv := ServerWithRoles{
+				authServer: srv.Auth(),
+				context:    *authContext,
+			}
+			// Keep alive the server.
+			err = srv.KeepAliveServer(context.Background(),
+				types.KeepAlive{
+					Type:      types.KeepAlive_KUBERNETES,
+					Expires:   time.Now().Add(5 * time.Minute),
+					Name:      serverName,
+					Namespace: defaults.Namespace,
+					HostID:    hostID,
+				},
+			)
+			test.assertErr(t, err)
+		},
+		)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/lib/kube/proxy/server.go b/lib/kube/proxy/server.go
index 99413f2d611a3..f02e60dcd1c1f 100644
--- a/lib/kube/proxy/server.go
+++ b/lib/kube/proxy/server.go
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ func (t *TLSServer) getServerInfo(name string) (types.Resource, error) {
 	// Note: we *don't* want to add suffix for kubernetes_service!
 	// This breaks reverse tunnel routing, which uses server.Name.
 	if t.KubeServiceType != KubeService {
-		name += "-proxy_service"
+		name += teleport.KubeLegacyProxySuffix
 	}
 
 	srv, err := types.NewKubernetesServerV3(