diff --git a/constance/config.py b/constance/config.py
index bff3100..78074f4 100644
--- a/constance/config.py
+++ b/constance/config.py
@@ -8,24 +8,21 @@ from django.utils.importlib import import_module
 class Config(object):
 
     def __init__(self):
+        super(Config, self).__setattr__('_prefix', getattr(settings.CONSTANCE_PREFIX, 'constance:')
         try:
             module, class_ = settings.CONSTANCE_CONNECTION_CLASS.rsplit('.')
-            self._rd = getattr(import_module(module), class_)()
+            super(Config, self).__setattr__('_rd', getattr(import_module(module), class_)())
         except AttributeError:
-            self._rd = redis.Redis(**settings.CONSTANCE_CONNECTION)
+            super(Config, self).__setattr__('_rd', redis.Redis(**settings.CONSTANCE_CONNECTION))
 
     def __getattr__(self, key):
-        if key.startswith('_'):
-            return super(Config, self).__getattr__(key, value)
         default, decode, help_text = settings.CONSTANCE_CONFIG[key]
-        result = self._rd.get("%s%s" % (self.prefix, key))
+        result = self._rd.get("%s%s" % (self._prefix, key))
         if result is None:
             result = default
             setattr(self, key, default)
         return decode(result)
 
     def __setattr__(self, key, value):
-        if key.startswith('_'):
-            return super(Config, self).__setattr__(key, value)
-        self._rd.set("%s%s" % (self.prefix, key), value)
+        self._rd.set("%s%s" % (self._prefix, key), value)