The forward scattering error in water bodies is one of the primary error sources in spaceborne laser bathymetry, with individual errors potentially exceeding the depth accuracy requirements of hydrographic surveying standards. However, traditional scattering correction methods developed based on waveform information cannot be applied to the discrete photons from photon-counting lidars. In this study, a Monte Carlo simulation is used to estimate the forward scattering errors in the water column for spaceborne photon-counting lidars and an empirical formula is derived for its rapid error correction. The quantitative analysis on this correction method demonstrates that the rapid scattering error correction is practicable and reliable using the initially corrected bathymetry data of ICESat-2 and the MODIS global water backscattering coefficient at 531 nm as inputs. Further sensitivity analysis indicates that the method performance mainly depends on the uncertainty of water backscattering coefficients. With the backscattering coefficients error constrained within 20%, the empirical formula reduces the scattering error residuals to less than 0.45% of the water depth. Under four typical water conditions, the empirical formula demonstrates an average 72% reduction in water forward scattering errors, effectively eliminating the majority of scattering-induced inaccuracies. The analysis of system parameters indicates that the derived ICESat-2 correction formula can be extended to other spaceborne photon-counting bathymetric lidars through considering the receiver field-of-view radius.