diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 17b4da1..3aea269 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2134,6 +2134,8 @@
 	if (!protect_ntfs)
 		return 1;
 
+	skip_dos_drive_prefix((char **)&path);
+
 	for (;;) {
 		char c = *(path++);
 		switch (c) {
@@ -2155,6 +2157,14 @@
 			preceding_space_or_period = 1;
 			i++;
 			continue;
+		case ':': /* DOS drive prefix was already skipped */
+		case '<': case '>': case '"': case '|': case '?': case '*':
+			/* illegal character */
+			return 0;
+		default:
+			if (c > '\0' && c < '\x20')
+				/* illegal character */
+				return 0;
 		}
 		preceding_space_or_period = 0;
 		i++;
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 8c49c1d..7482f19 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -431,8 +431,11 @@
 /**
  * Verifies that the given path is a valid one on Windows.
  *
- * In particular, path segments are disallowed which end in a period or a
- * space (except the special directories `.` and `..`).
+ * In particular, path segments are disallowed which
+ *
+ * - end in a period or a space (except the special directories `.` and `..`).
+ *
+ * - contain any of the reserved characters, e.g. `:`, `;`, `*`, etc
  *
  * Returns 1 upon success, otherwise 0.
  */
diff --git a/t/t0060-path-utils.sh b/t/t0060-path-utils.sh
index 1171e0b..f7e2529 100755
--- a/t/t0060-path-utils.sh
+++ b/t/t0060-path-utils.sh
@@ -445,13 +445,15 @@
 		win32 \
 		"win32 x" \
 		../hello.txt \
+		C:\\git \
 		\
 		--not \
 		"win32 "  \
 		"win32 /x "  \
 		"win32."  \
 		"win32 . ." \
-		.../hello.txt
+		.../hello.txt \
+		colon:test
 '
 
 test_done