diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/msys2_path_conv.cc b/winsup/cygwin/msys2_path_conv.cc
index b292add30f..71c4735c06 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/msys2_path_conv.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/msys2_path_conv.cc
@@ -376,6 +376,11 @@ path_type find_path_start_and_type(const char** src, int recurse, const char* en
             if (it + 1 < end && it[1] == '~')
                 goto skip_p2w;
             break;
+        case ':':
+            // Avoid mangling IPv6 addresses
+            if (it + 1 < end && it[1] == ':')
+                goto skip_p2w;
+            break;
         }
         ++it;
     }