diff --git a/tools/release-management/src/release_management/prepare/category_x.py b/tools/release-management/src/release_management/prepare/category_x.py
index 7ca445a89..8325c201c 100755
--- a/tools/release-management/src/release_management/prepare/category_x.py
+++ b/tools/release-management/src/release_management/prepare/category_x.py
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@
 def pattern_for(term: str) -> re.Pattern[str]:
     pieces = re.split(SEPARATORS, term)
     body = SEPARATORS.join(re.escape(p) for p in pieces)
-    return re.compile(rf"(?<![{TOKEN_CHARS}:/]){body}(?![A-Za-z0-9_\-:]|\.[A-Za-z0-9])", re.IGNORECASE)
+    # A full coordinate can be followed by :version or :type:version.
+    suffix_chars = r"A-Za-z0-9_\-" if ":" in term else r"A-Za-z0-9_\-:"
+    return re.compile(rf"(?<![{TOKEN_CHARS}:/]){body}(?![{suffix_chars}]|\.[A-Za-z0-9])", re.IGNORECASE)
 
 
 def terms(identifier: str) -> list[str]:
diff --git a/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare.py b/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare.py
index 1e6012277..b9cf4fbc1 100644
--- a/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare.py
+++ b/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare.py
@@ -427,6 +427,27 @@ def test_category_x_cli_names_the_hard_stop_file(tmp_path: Path, capsys: pytest.
     assert out["read"] == ["classifications/category-x-hit.md"]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("deny", ["org.example:blocked-lib", "blocked-lib"])
+def test_category_x_cli_reports_versioned_coordinate(
+    tmp_path: Path, capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str], deny: str
+) -> None:
+    manifest = tmp_path / "build.gradle.kts"
+    manifest.write_text('\nimplementation("org.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3")\n' * 2, encoding="utf-8")
+    shown = "app/build.gradle.kts"
+    assert main(["prepare", "category-x", "--deny", deny, f"{shown}={manifest}"]) == 0
+    out = json.loads(capsys.readouterr().out)
+    if deny == "blocked-lib":
+        assert out == {"category_x_hit": False, "category_x_violations": [], "files_scanned": [shown]}
+    else:
+        assert out == {
+            "category_x_hit": True,
+            "category_x_violations": [{"identifier": deny, "found_in": shown}],
+            "handoff_reason": category_x.HANDOFF,
+            "first_match_lines": [{"identifier": deny, "found_in": shown, "line": 2}],
+            "read": ["classifications/category-x-hit.md"],
+        }
+
+
 def test_versions_per_manifest(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     files = {
         "pyproject.toml": '[project]\nname = "foo"\nversion = "1.0.0.dev0"\n',
diff --git a/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare_scripts.py b/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare_scripts.py
index fdaf6877d..79286cef2 100644
--- a/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare_scripts.py
+++ b/tools/release-management/tests/test_prepare_scripts.py
@@ -101,6 +101,72 @@ def test_no_partial_token_match(self) -> None:
         self.assertFalse(out["category_x_hit"])
         self.assertEqual(out["files_scanned"], ["pyproject.toml"])
 
+    def test_versioned_coordinates_match(self) -> None:
+        identifier = "org.example:blocked-lib"
+        manifests = {
+            "build.gradle": "dependencies {\n    implementation 'org.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3'\n}\n",
+            "build.gradle.kts": 'dependencies {\n    implementation("org.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3")\n}\n',
+            "gradle.lockfile": "# dependency locks\norg.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3=compileClasspath\n",
+            "dependency-tree.txt": "[INFO] dependency tree\n[INFO] +- org.example:blocked-lib:jar:1.2.3:compile\n",
+        }
+        for shown, text in manifests.items():
+            with self.subTest(manifest=shown):
+                out = category_x.scan([identifier], [(shown, self.file(text))])
+                self.assertEqual(
+                    out,
+                    {
+                        "category_x_hit": True,
+                        "category_x_violations": [{"identifier": identifier, "found_in": shown}],
+                        "handoff_reason": category_x.HANDOFF,
+                        "first_match_lines": [{"identifier": identifier, "found_in": shown, "line": 2}],
+                    },
+                )
+
+    def test_versioned_coordinate_normalisation(self) -> None:
+        identifier = "ORG.EXAMPLE:BLOCKED-LIB"
+        local = self.file('implementation("org_example:blocked.lib:1.2.3")\n')
+        out = category_x.scan([identifier], [("build.gradle.kts", local)])
+        self.assertTrue(out["category_x_hit"])
+        self.assertEqual(
+            out["first_match_lines"], [{"identifier": identifier, "found_in": "build.gradle.kts", "line": 1}]
+        )
+
+    def test_coordinate_manifest_controls(self) -> None:
+        manifests = {
+            "pom.xml": "<groupId>org.example</groupId><artifactId>blocked-lib</artifactId>\n",
+            "libs.versions.toml": 'blocked = { module = "org.example:blocked-lib", version = "1.2.3" }\n',
+            "build.gradle": "implementation group: 'org.example', name: 'blocked-lib', version: '1.2.3'\n",
+            "setup.cfg": "install_requires = blocked-lib>=1.2.3\n",
+        }
+        for shown, text in manifests.items():
+            with self.subTest(manifest=shown):
+                out = category_x.scan(["org.example:blocked-lib"], [(shown, self.file(text))])
+                self.assertTrue(out["category_x_hit"])
+
+    def test_versioned_coordinates_respect_token_boundaries(self) -> None:
+        coordinates = (
+            "other.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3",
+            "prefixorg.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3",
+            "org.example:prefixblocked-lib:1.2.3",
+            "org.example:blocked-lib-extras:1.2.3",
+            "org.example:blocked-lib.extra:1.2.3",
+            "org.example:blocked-lib0:1.2.3",
+            "path/org.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3",
+            "another:org.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3",
+        )
+        for coordinate in coordinates:
+            with self.subTest(coordinate=coordinate):
+                local = self.file(f'implementation("{coordinate}")\n')
+                self.assertFalse(
+                    category_x.scan(["org.example:blocked-lib"], [("build.gradle.kts", local)])[
+                        "category_x_hit"
+                    ]
+                )
+
+    def test_bare_artifact_does_not_match_inside_a_coordinate(self) -> None:
+        local = self.file('implementation("org.example:blocked-lib:1.2.3")\n')
+        self.assertFalse(category_x.scan(["blocked-lib"], [("build.gradle.kts", local)])["category_x_hit"])
+
 
 class NextDevVersionTest(unittest.TestCase):
     CONFIGURED: ClassVar[list[str]] = [