diff --git a/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template.go b/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template.go
index 3515dedcb8e..3298dc4652e 100644
--- a/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template.go
+++ b/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template.go
@@ -962,8 +962,7 @@ func templateToParts(path string, reg *descriptor.Registry, fields []*descriptor
 	depth := 0
 	buffer := ""
 	jsonBuffer := ""
-pathLoop:
-	for i, char := range path {
+	for _, char := range path {
 		switch char {
 		case '{':
 			// Push on the stack
@@ -997,13 +996,6 @@ pathLoop:
 			buffer += string(char)
 			jsonBuffer += string(char)
 		case ':':
-			if depth == 0 {
-				// As soon as we find a ":" outside a variable,
-				// everything following is a verb
-				parts = append(parts, buffer)
-				buffer = path[i:]
-				break pathLoop
-			}
 			buffer += string(char)
 			jsonBuffer += string(char)
 		default:
diff --git a/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template_test.go b/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template_test.go
index 80c4e48d214..7c6df9d10d1 100644
--- a/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template_test.go
+++ b/protoc-gen-openapiv2/internal/genopenapi/template_test.go
@@ -3858,6 +3858,7 @@ func TestTemplateWithJsonCamelCase(t *testing.T) {
 		{"test/{ab_c}", "test/{abC}"},
 		{"test/{json_name}", "test/{jsonNAME}"},
 		{"test/{field_abc.field_newName}", "test/{fieldAbc.RESERVEDJSONNAME}"},
+		{"/item/search:items/{item_no_query}", "/item/search:items/{itemNoQuery}"},
 	}
 	reg := descriptor.NewRegistry()
 	reg.SetUseJSONNamesForFields(true)