diff --git a/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature-search-store.ts b/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature-search-store.ts
index 7bc944fe1577..76bfc84deb2b 100644
--- a/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature-search-store.ts
+++ b/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature-search-store.ts
@@ -604,11 +604,11 @@ const applyMultiQueryParams = (
 ): void => {
     queryParams.forEach((param) => {
         const values = param.values.map((val) =>
-            (Array.isArray(fields) ? val.split(':') : [val]).map((s) =>
-                s.trim(),
-            ),
+            (Array.isArray(fields)
+                ? val.split(/:(.+)/).filter(Boolean)
+                : [val]
+            ).map((s) => s.trim()),
         );
-
         const baseSubQuery = createBaseQuery(values);
 
         switch (param.operator) {
diff --git a/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature.search.e2e.test.ts b/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature.search.e2e.test.ts
index 86a8ee7d495a..34f116daef5c 100644
--- a/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature.search.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/features/feature-search/feature.search.e2e.test.ts
@@ -359,6 +359,20 @@ test('should filter features by tag', async () => {
     await filterFeaturesByTag('EXCLUDE_ALL:simple,simple:jest', 400);
 });
 
+test('should filter features by tag that has colon inside', async () => {
+    await app.createFeature('my_feature_a');
+    await app.addTag('my_feature_a', {
+        type: 'simple',
+        value: 'my_tag:colon',
+    });
+
+    const { body } = await filterFeaturesByTag('INCLUDE:simple:my_tag:colon');
+
+    expect(body).toMatchObject({
+        features: [{ name: 'my_feature_a' }],
+    });
+});
+
 test('should filter features by environment status', async () => {
     await app.createFeature('my_feature_a');
     await app.createFeature('my_feature_b');
diff --git a/src/lib/openapi/spec/feature-search-query-parameters.ts b/src/lib/openapi/spec/feature-search-query-parameters.ts
index bed2b45b2d3c..0de66e97ec88 100644
--- a/src/lib/openapi/spec/feature-search-query-parameters.ts
+++ b/src/lib/openapi/spec/feature-search-query-parameters.ts
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export const featureSearchQueryParameters = [
         schema: {
             type: 'string',
             pattern:
-                '^(INCLUDE|DO_NOT_INCLUDE|INCLUDE_ALL_OF|INCLUDE_ANY_OF|EXCLUDE_IF_ANY_OF|EXCLUDE_ALL):(?:\\s*[^,:]+:[^,:]+\\s*)(?:,\\s*[^,:]+:[^,:]+\\s*)*$',
+                '^(INCLUDE|DO_NOT_INCLUDE|INCLUDE_ALL_OF|INCLUDE_ANY_OF|EXCLUDE_IF_ANY_OF|EXCLUDE_ALL):([^:,]+:.+?)(,\\s*[^:,]+:.+?)*$',
             example: 'INCLUDE:simple:my_tag',
         },
         description: