diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriter.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriter.java
index a92dd2eae4..1719383611 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriter.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriter.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * a gauge.
  *
  * @author Dave Syer
+ * @author Odín del Río
  * @since 1.3.0
  */
 public class StatsdMetricWriter implements MetricWriter, Closeable {
@@ -87,12 +88,12 @@ public class StatsdMetricWriter implements MetricWriter, Closeable {
 
 	@Override
 	public void increment(Delta<?> delta) {
-		this.client.count(delta.getName(), delta.getValue().longValue());
+		this.client.count(sanitizeMetricName(delta.getName()), delta.getValue().longValue());
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public void set(Metric<?> value) {
-		String name = value.getName();
+		String name = sanitizeMetricName(value.getName());
 		if (name.contains("timer.") && !name.contains("gauge.")
 				&& !name.contains("counter.")) {
 			this.client.recordExecutionTime(name, value.getValue().longValue());
@@ -117,6 +118,16 @@ public class StatsdMetricWriter implements MetricWriter, Closeable {
 		this.client.stop();
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * The statsd server does not allow ":" in metric names. Since the the statsd client
+	 * is not dealing with this, we have to sanitize the metric name.
+	 * @param name The metric name
+	 * @return The sanitized metric name
+	 */
+	private String sanitizeMetricName(String name) {
+		return name.replace(":", "");
+	}
+
 	private static final class LoggingStatsdErrorHandler
 			implements StatsDClientErrorHandler {
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriterTests.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriterTests.java
index 33494ecffb..6e1043caea 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriterTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/statsd/StatsdMetricWriterTests.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
  * Tests for {@link StatsdMetricWriter}.
  *
  * @author Dave Syer
+ * @author Odín del Río
  */
 public class StatsdMetricWriterTests {
 
@@ -97,6 +98,20 @@ public class StatsdMetricWriterTests {
 		assertThat(this.server.messagesReceived().get(0)).isEqualTo("my.gauge.foo:3|g");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void incrementMetricWithInvalidCharsInName() throws Exception {
+		this.writer.increment(new Delta<>("counter.fo:o", 3L));
+		this.server.waitForMessage();
+		assertThat(this.server.messagesReceived().get(0)).isEqualTo("me.counter.foo:3|c");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void setMetricWithInvalidCharsInName() throws Exception {
+		this.writer.set(new Metric<>("gauge.f:o:o", 3L));
+		this.server.waitForMessage();
+		assertThat(this.server.messagesReceived().get(0)).isEqualTo("me.gauge.foo:3|g");
+	}
+
 	private static final class DummyStatsDServer implements Runnable {
 
 		private final List<String> messagesReceived = new ArrayList<String>();