diff --git a/hgext/mq.py b/hgext/mq.py
--- a/hgext/mq.py
+++ b/hgext/mq.py
@@ -813,8 +813,7 @@ class queue(object):
     _reserved = ('series', 'status', 'guards')
     def check_reserved_name(self, name):
         if (name in self._reserved or name.startswith('.hg')
-            or name.startswith('.mq') or '#' in name
-            or (os.name == 'nt' and ':' in name)):
+            or name.startswith('.mq') or '#' in name or ':' in name):
             raise util.Abort(_('"%s" cannot be used as the name of a patch')
                              % name)
 
diff --git a/tests/test-mq-qnew b/tests/test-mq-qnew
--- a/tests/test-mq-qnew
+++ b/tests/test-mq-qnew
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ runtest() {
     hg qnew .hgignore
     hg qnew .mqfoo
     hg qnew 'foo#bar'
+    hg qnew 'foo:bar'
 
     hg qinit -c
 
diff --git a/tests/test-mq-qnew.out b/tests/test-mq-qnew.out
--- a/tests/test-mq-qnew.out
+++ b/tests/test-mq-qnew.out
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ abort: "guards" cannot be used as the na
 abort: ".hgignore" cannot be used as the name of a patch
 abort: ".mqfoo" cannot be used as the name of a patch
 abort: "foo#bar" cannot be used as the name of a patch
+abort: "foo:bar" cannot be used as the name of a patch
 % qnew with uncommitted changes
 uncommitted.patch
 % qnew implies add