diff --git a/lib/rubygems/package.rb b/lib/rubygems/package.rb
index e6e078dce406..0d05bc962e69 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/package.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/package.rb
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@ class TooLongFileName < Error; end
 
   class TarInvalidError < Error; end
 
+  ##
+  # Raised when a filename contains characters that are invalid on Windows
+
+  class InvalidWindowsFileNameError < Error
+    def initialize(filename, gem_name = nil)
+      message = "The gem contains a file '#{filename}' with characters in its name that are not allowed on Windows (e.g., colons)."
+      message += " This is a problem with the '#{gem_name}' gem, not Rubygems." if gem_name
+      message += " Please report this issue to the gem author."
+      super message
+    end
+  end
+
   attr_accessor :build_time # :nodoc:
 
   ##
@@ -258,6 +270,10 @@ def add_contents(tar) # :nodoc:
 
   def add_files(tar) # :nodoc:
     @spec.files.each do |file|
+      if invalid_windows_filename?(file)
+        alert_warning "filename '#{file}' contains characters that are invalid on Windows (e.g., colons). This gem may fail to install on Windows."
+      end
+
       stat = File.lstat file
 
       if stat.symlink?
@@ -425,6 +441,11 @@ def extract_tar_gz(io, destination_dir, pattern = "*") # :nodoc:
         full_name = entry.full_name
         next unless File.fnmatch pattern, full_name, File::FNM_DOTMATCH
 
+        if Gem.win_platform? && invalid_windows_filename?(full_name)
+          gem_name = @spec ? @spec.full_name : "unknown"
+          raise Gem::Package::InvalidWindowsFileNameError.new(full_name, gem_name)
+        end
+
         destination = install_location full_name, destination_dir
 
         if entry.symlink?
@@ -529,6 +550,16 @@ def normalize_path(pathname) # :nodoc:
     end
   end
 
+  ##
+  # Checks if a filename contains characters that are invalid on Windows.
+  # Windows doesn't allow: < > : " | ? * \ and control characters (0x00-0x1F).
+  # Colons are the most common issue since they're allowed on Unix.
+  # Note: Colons are only valid as drive letter separators (e.g., C:), not in filenames.
+
+  def invalid_windows_filename?(filename) # :nodoc:
+    filename.to_s.split("/").any? { |part| part.match?(/[:<>"|?*\\\x00-\x1f]/) }
+  end
+
   ##
   # Loads a Gem::Specification from the TarEntry +entry+
 
diff --git a/test/rubygems/test_gem_package.rb b/test/rubygems/test_gem_package.rb
index 0c214a232b76..8027f09a315b 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/test_gem_package.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/test_gem_package.rb
@@ -1303,4 +1303,75 @@ def test_contents_from_io
 
     assert_equal %w[lib/code.rb], package.contents
   end
+
+  def test_invalid_windows_filename
+    package = Gem::Package.new @gem
+
+    if Gem.win_platform?
+      assert package.invalid_windows_filename?("spec/internal/:memory")
+      assert package.invalid_windows_filename?("file:name.rb")
+      assert package.invalid_windows_filename?("file<name.rb")
+      assert package.invalid_windows_filename?('file"name.rb')
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_invalid_file_name_error_message
+    error = Gem::Package::InvalidWindowsFileNameError.new("spec/internal/:memory", "crono-2.0.1")
+    assert_match(%r{The gem contains a file 'spec/internal/:memory'}, error.message)
+    assert_match(/characters in its name that are not allowed on Windows/, error.message)
+    assert_match(/This is a problem with the 'crono-2.0.1' gem, not Rubygems/, error.message)
+    assert_match(/Please report this issue to the gem author/, error.message)
+  end
+
+  def test_extract_tar_gz_invalid_filename
+    pend "Windows filename validation only applies on Windows" unless Gem.win_platform?
+
+    package = Gem::Package.new @gem
+    package.verify
+
+    tgz_io = util_tar_gz do |tar|
+      tar.add_file "spec/internal/:memory", 0o644 do |io|
+        io.write "test content"
+      end
+    end
+
+    e = assert_raise Gem::Package::InvalidWindowsFileNameError do
+      package.extract_tar_gz tgz_io, @destination
+    end
+
+    assert_match(%r{The gem contains a file 'spec/internal/:memory'}, e.message)
+    assert_match(/characters in its name that are not allowed on Windows/, e.message)
+    assert_match(/This is a problem with the 'a-2' gem, not Rubygems/, e.message)
+  end
+
+  def test_build_warns_on_invalid_windows_filename
+    pend "Windows filename validation only applies on non-Windows" if Gem.win_platform?
+
+    spec = Gem::Specification.new "test_gem", "1.0"
+    spec.summary = "test"
+    spec.authors = "test"
+    spec.files = ["lib/code.rb", "lib/file:name.rb"]
+
+    FileUtils.mkdir "lib"
+
+    File.open "lib/code.rb", "w" do |io|
+      io.write "# lib/code.rb"
+    end
+
+    File.open "lib/file:name.rb", "w" do |io|
+      io.write "# lib/file:name.rb"
+    end
+
+    package = Gem::Package.new spec.file_name
+    package.spec = spec
+
+    ui = Gem::MockGemUi.new
+    use_ui ui do
+      package.build
+    end
+
+    assert_match(%r{filename 'lib/file:name\.rb' contains characters that are invalid on Windows}, ui.error)
+    assert_match(/This gem may fail to install on Windows/, ui.error)
+    assert_path_exist spec.file_name
+  end
 end