Heterologous expression of a putative $K^+/H^+$ antiporter of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) (designated as sha4) in E. coli and Streptomyces hygroscopicus JCM4427 showed enhanced tolerance to $K^+$ stress, acidic-pH shock, and/or geldanamycin production under $K^+$ stress. In a series of $K^+$ extrusion experiments with sha4-carrying E. coli deficient in the $K^+/H^+$ antiporter, a restoration of impaired $K^+$ extrusion activity was observed. Based on this, it was concluded that sha4 was a true $K^+/H^+$ antiporter. In different sets of experiments, the sha4-carrying E. coli showed significantly improved tolerances to $K^+$ stresses and acidic-pH shock, whereas sha4-carrying S. hygroscopicus showed an improvement in $K^+$ stress tolerance only. The sha4-carrying S. hygroscopicus showed much higher geldanamycin productivity than the control under $K^+$ stress condition. In another set of experiments with a production medium, the secretion of geldanamycin was also significantly enhanced by the expression of sha4.