diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+## 0.2.4.1 (2020-05-21)
+
+ * Sanitize metric names by replacing `:` with `_` to adhere to the StatsD
+   protocol ([#26](https://github.com/tibbe/ekg-statsd/pull/26)).
+ * Add support for GHC 8.10 in base bounds and CI.
+
 ## 0.2.4.0 (2018-08-01)
 
 * Don't rethrow `ThreadKilled` exceptions to the thread that invoked
diff --git a/System/Remote/Monitoring/Statsd.hs b/System/Remote/Monitoring/Statsd.hs
--- a/System/Remote/Monitoring/Statsd.hs
+++ b/System/Remote/Monitoring/Statsd.hs
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
 -- You probably want to include some of the predefined metrics defined
 -- in the ekg-core package, by calling e.g. the 'registerGcStats'
 -- function defined in that package.
+--
+-- Note that the StatsD protocol does not allow @':'@ in metric names, so
+-- any occurrences are replaced by @'_'@.
 module System.Remote.Monitoring.Statsd
     (
       -- * The statsd syncer
@@ -175,9 +178,13 @@
 flushSample :: Metrics.Sample -> (B8.ByteString -> IO ()) -> StatsdOptions -> IO ()
 flushSample sample sendSample opts = do
     forM_ (M.toList sample) $ \ (name, val) ->
-        let fullName = dottedPrefix <> name <> dottedSuffix
+        let fullName = dottedPrefix <> sanitizeName name <> dottedSuffix
         in  flushMetric fullName val
   where
+    sanitizeName = T.map sanitizeChar
+    sanitizeChar ':' = '_'
+    sanitizeChar c   = c
+
     flushMetric name (Metrics.Counter n)      = send "|c" name (show n)
     flushMetric name (Metrics.Gauge n)        = send "|g" name (show n)
     flushMetric name (Metrics.Distribution d) = sendDistribution name d
diff --git a/ekg-statsd.cabal b/ekg-statsd.cabal
--- a/ekg-statsd.cabal
+++ b/ekg-statsd.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                ekg-statsd
-version:             0.2.4.0
+version:             0.2.4.1
 synopsis:            Push metrics to statsd
 description:
   This library lets you push system metrics to a statsd server.
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 build-type:          Simple
 extra-source-files:  CHANGES.md
 cabal-version:       >=1.10
-tested-with:         GHC == 8.4.3,  GHC == 8.2.2, GHC == 8.0.2,
+tested-with:         GHC == 8.10.1, GHC == 8.8.3, GHC == 8.6.5,
+                     GHC == 8.4.4, GHC == 8.2.2, GHC == 8.0.2,
                      GHC == 7.10.3, GHC == 7.8.4, GHC == 7.6.3
 
 library
@@ -22,12 +23,12 @@
     System.Remote.Monitoring.Statsd
 
   build-depends:
-    base >= 4.5 && < 4.12,
+    base >= 4.6 && < 4.15,
     bytestring < 1.0,
     ekg-core >= 0.1 && < 1.0,
-    network < 2.8,
+    network < 3.2,
     text < 1.3,
-    time < 1.9,
+    time < 1.10,
     unordered-containers < 0.3
 
   default-language:    Haskell2010