diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocation.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocation.java
index 589ef597283..94e513b6403 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocation.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocation.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2023 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2024 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import org.springframework.boot.loader.net.util.UrlDecoder;
  * @param path the path to the zip that contains the nested entry
  * @param nestedEntryName the nested entry name
  * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
  * @since 3.2.0
  */
 public record NestedLocation(Path path, String nestedEntryName) {
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ public record NestedLocation(Path path, String nestedEntryName) {
 		if (url == null || !"nested".equalsIgnoreCase(url.getProtocol())) {
 			throw new IllegalArgumentException("'url' must not be null and must use 'nested' protocol");
 		}
-		return parse(UrlDecoder.decode(url.getPath()));
+		return parse(UrlDecoder.decode(url.toString().substring(7)));
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ public record NestedLocation(Path path, String nestedEntryName) {
 
 	private static NestedLocation create(int index, String location) {
 		String locationPath = (index != -1) ? location.substring(0, index) : location;
-		if (isWindows()) {
+		if (isWindows() && !isUncPath(location)) {
 			while (locationPath.startsWith("/")) {
 				locationPath = locationPath.substring(1, locationPath.length());
 			}
@@ -111,6 +112,10 @@ public record NestedLocation(Path path, String nestedEntryName) {
 		return File.separatorChar == '\\';
 	}
 
+	private static boolean isUncPath(String input) {
+		return !input.contains(":");
+	}
+
 	static void clearCache() {
 		cache.clear();
 	}
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocationTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocationTests.java
index c1a13b21b0c..40449813b83 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/net/protocol/nested/NestedLocationTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2023 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2024 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package org.springframework.boot.loader.net.protocol.nested;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@ import java.nio.file.Path;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Disabled;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.condition.EnabledOnOs;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.condition.OS;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
 
 import org.springframework.boot.loader.net.protocol.Handlers;
@@ -35,6 +38,7 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatIllegalArgumentException
  * Tests for {@link NestedLocation}.
  *
  * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
  */
 class NestedLocationTests {
 
@@ -130,4 +134,13 @@ class NestedLocationTests {
 		assertThat(location.nestedEntryName()).isEqualTo("lib/nested.jar");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	@EnabledOnOs(OS.WINDOWS)
+	void windowsUncPathIsHandledCorrectly() throws MalformedURLException {
+		NestedLocation location = NestedLocation.fromUrl(
+				new URL("nested://localhost/c$/dev/temp/demo/build/libs/demo-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar/!BOOT-INF/classes/"));
+		assertThat(location.path()).asString()
+			.isEqualTo("\\\\localhost\\c$\\dev\\temp\\demo\\build\\libs\\demo-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar");
+	}
+
 }