diff --git a/mesonbuild/coredata.py b/mesonbuild/coredata.py
index d39f161bd..0e6685c5c 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/coredata.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/coredata.py
@@ -304,7 +304,6 @@ forbidden_target_names = {'clean': None,
                           'PHONY': None,
                           'all': None,
                           'test': None,
-                          'test:': None,
                           'benchmark': None,
                           'install': None,
                           'uninstall': None,