diff --git a/lib/plug/static.ex b/lib/plug/static.ex
index df6f7ba7..6320472c 100644
--- a/lib/plug/static.ex
+++ b/lib/plug/static.ex
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ defmodule Plug.Static do
       :forbidden ->
         conn
 
-      status ->
+      :allowed ->
         segments = Enum.map(segments, &URI.decode/1)
 
         if invalid_path?(segments) do
@@ -215,17 +215,19 @@ defmodule Plug.Static do
         range = get_req_header(conn, "range")
 
         case file_encoding(conn, path, range, encodings) do
-          :error ->
-            conn
+          :error -> conn
+          triplet -> serve_static(triplet, conn, segments, range, options)
+        end
 
-          triplet ->
-            if status == :raise do
-              raise InvalidPathError,
-                    "static file exists but is not in the :only list: #{Enum.join(segments, "/")}. " <>
-                      "Add it to the :only list or use :only_matching for prefix matching"
-            end
+      :raise ->
+        segments = Enum.map(segments, &URI.decode/1)
 
-            serve_static(triplet, conn, segments, range, options)
+        if not invalid_path?(segments) and regular_file_info(path(from, segments)) do
+          raise InvalidPathError,
+                "static file exists but is not in the :only list: #{Enum.join(segments, "/")}. " <>
+                  "Add it to the :only list or use :only_matching for prefix matching"
+        else
+          conn
         end
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/plug/static_test.exs b/test/plug/static_test.exs
index 3917ee6f..b116c8c9 100644
--- a/test/plug/static_test.exs
+++ b/test/plug/static_test.exs
@@ -895,4 +895,69 @@ defmodule Plug.StaticTest do
 
     assert conn.status == 200
   end
+
+  describe "raise_on_missing_only" do
+    test "passes through when path has colons and does not match :only" do
+      conn =
+        conn(:get, "/public/resource:identifier")
+        |> call(only: ["assets"], raise_on_missing_only: true)
+
+      assert conn.status == 404
+      assert conn.resp_body == "Passthrough"
+    end
+
+    test "passes through when path has dot-dot segments and does not match :only" do
+      conn =
+        conn(:get, "/public/..%2Fsecret")
+        |> call(only: ["assets"], raise_on_missing_only: true)
+
+      assert conn.status == 404
+      assert conn.resp_body == "Passthrough"
+    end
+
+    test "passes through when path has null bytes and does not match :only" do
+      conn =
+        conn(:get, "/public/file%00.txt")
+        |> call(only: ["assets"], raise_on_missing_only: true)
+
+      assert conn.status == 404
+      assert conn.resp_body == "Passthrough"
+    end
+
+    test "passes through when non-existent file does not match :only" do
+      conn =
+        conn(:get, "/public/nonexistent.txt")
+        |> call(only: ["assets"], raise_on_missing_only: true)
+
+      assert conn.status == 404
+      assert conn.resp_body == "Passthrough"
+    end
+
+    test "passes through with only_matching when path does not match prefix" do
+      conn =
+        conn(:get, "/public/resource:identifier")
+        |> call(only_matching: ["assets"], raise_on_missing_only: true)
+
+      assert conn.status == 404
+      assert conn.resp_body == "Passthrough"
+    end
+
+    test "raises when existing file is not in :only list" do
+      assert_raise Plug.Static.InvalidPathError,
+                   ~r/static file exists but is not in the :only list/,
+                   fn ->
+                     conn(:get, "/public/fixtures/static.txt")
+                     |> call(only: ["assets"], raise_on_missing_only: true)
+                   end
+    end
+
+    test "serves file normally when it matches :only list" do
+      conn =
+        conn(:get, "/public/fixtures/static.txt")
+        |> call(only: ["fixtures"], raise_on_missing_only: true)
+
+      assert conn.status == 200
+      assert conn.resp_body == "HELLO"
+    end
+  end
 end