diff --git a/core/include/gnuradio-4.0/YamlPmt.hpp b/core/include/gnuradio-4.0/YamlPmt.hpp
index 1c4ba64e..5131e9df 100644
--- a/core/include/gnuradio-4.0/YamlPmt.hpp
+++ b/core/include/gnuradio-4.0/YamlPmt.hpp
@@ -223,6 +223,16 @@ struct ParseContext {
         return lines[lineIdx].substr(columnIdx).starts_with(sv);
     }
 
+    bool startsWithToken(std::string_view sv) const {
+        if (atEndOfLine()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        if (columnIdx + sv.size() < lines[lineIdx].size() && !std::isspace(lines[lineIdx][columnIdx + sv.size()])) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        return lines[lineIdx].substr(columnIdx).starts_with(sv);
+    }
+
     bool startsWith(char c) const {
         if (atEndOfLine()) {
             return false;
@@ -246,6 +256,14 @@ struct ParseContext {
         return false;
     }
 
+    bool consumeIfStartsWithToken(std::string_view sv) {
+        if (startsWithToken(sv)) {
+            consume(sv.size());
+            return true;
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
     char front() const { return lines[lineIdx][columnIdx]; }
 
     void skipToNextLine() {
@@ -786,14 +804,26 @@ inline std::expected<std::string, ParseError> parseKey(ParseContext& ctx, std::s
         }
         ctx.consume(2 * quoteOffset + length);
         ctx.consumeSpaces();
-        if (!ctx.consumeIfStartsWith(':')) {
+        if (!ctx.consumeIfStartsWithToken(":")) {
             return std::unexpected(ctx.makeError("Could not find key/value separator ':'"));
         }
         return *maybeKey;
     }
 
     // not quoted
-    auto colonPos   = ctx.remainingLine().find(':');
+    auto colonPos = [](auto sv) {
+        for (auto pos = 0UZ; pos < sv.size(); ++pos) {
+            pos = sv.find(':', pos);
+            if (pos == std::string_view::npos) {
+                return pos;
+            }
+            if (pos == sv.size() - 1 || std::isspace(sv[pos + 1])) {
+                return pos;
+            }
+        }
+        return std::string_view::npos;
+    }(ctx.remainingLine());
+
     auto commentPos = ctx.remainingLine().find('#');
     if (colonPos == std::string_view::npos || (commentPos != std::string_view::npos && commentPos < colonPos)) {
         return std::unexpected(ctx.makeError("Could not find key/value separator ':'"));
diff --git a/core/test/qa_YamlPmt.cpp b/core/test/qa_YamlPmt.cpp
index 92416cee..33d538ef 100644
--- a/core/test/qa_YamlPmt.cpp
+++ b/core/test/qa_YamlPmt.cpp
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ empty: !!str ""
 spaces_only: !!str "   "
 value_with_colon: "value: with colon"
 value_with_colon2: "value:\n  with colon"
+value_with_colon3: std::ranges
 multiline1: !!str |
   First line
   Second line
@@ -229,6 +230,7 @@ unprintable_chars: !!str "\0\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x00\x06\x07\x08\x09\x0A\x0B\x0C
         expected["spaces_only"]          = "   "s;
         expected["value_with_colon"]     = "value: with colon"s;
         expected["value_with_colon2"]    = "value:\n  with colon"s;
+        expected["value_with_colon3"]    = "std::ranges"s;
         expected["multiline1"]           = "First line\nSecond line\nThird line with trailing newline\nNull bytes (\x00\x00)\nThis is a quoted backslash \"\\\"\n"s;
         expected["multiline2"]           = "This is a long paragraph that will be folded into a single line with trailing newlines This is a quoted backslash \"\\\" These are some invalid escapes \\q\\xZZ\\x\n\n"s;
         expected["multiline3"]           = "First line\nSecond line\nThird line without trailing newline"s;
@@ -724,6 +726,7 @@ Key with spaces: !!int8 42
 "key with CR \r": !!int8 48
 "key with backslash \\": !!int8 49
 "key with quote \"": !!int8 50
+key::with::colons: !!int8 51
 )yaml";
 
         pmtv::map_t expected;
@@ -737,6 +740,7 @@ Key with spaces: !!int8 42
         expected["key with CR \r"]           = static_cast<int8_t>(48);
         expected["key with backslash \\"]    = static_cast<int8_t>(49);
         expected["key with quote \""]        = static_cast<int8_t>(50);
+        expected["key::with::colons"]        = static_cast<int8_t>(51);
 
         testYAML(src, expected);
     };