diff --git a/test/lib/commands/uninstall.js b/test/lib/commands/uninstall.js
index 049bf2da8b1c3..0302aa5bac30b 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/uninstall.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/uninstall.js
@@ -143,6 +143,34 @@ t.test('remove multiple installed libs', async t => {
   t.throws(() => fs.statSync(b), 'should have removed b package from nm')
 })
 
+t.test('rejects an arg with a version spec', async t => {
+  const { uninstall } = await mockNpm(t, {
+    prefixDir: {
+      'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+        name: 'test-rm-version-spec',
+        version: '1.0.0',
+        dependencies: {
+          foo: '*',
+        },
+      }),
+      node_modules: {
+        foo: {
+          'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+            name: 'foo',
+            version: '1.0.0',
+          }),
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  })
+
+  await t.rejects(
+    uninstall(['foo@1']),
+    { code: 'ERMARGS', message: /npm rm foo/ },
+    'should throw ERMARGS instead of silently no-oping'
+  )
+})
+
 t.test('no args local', async t => {
   const { uninstall } = await mockNpm(t)
 
diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js b/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
index 2082f7d48372e..7ff7a21cf9b6f 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
@@ -257,6 +257,22 @@ module.exports = cls => class IdealTreeBuilder extends cls {
     this[_updateNames] = update.names
 
     this[_updateAll] = update.all
+
+    // validates list of rm names, they must
+    // be dep names only, no semver ranges are supported
+    for (const name of options.rm || []) {
+      const spec = npa(name)
+      const validationError =
+        new TypeError(`Remove arguments must only contain package names, eg:
+    npm rm ${spec.name || '<pkg>'}`)
+      validationError.code = 'ERMARGS'
+
+      // If they gave us anything other than a bare package name
+      if (spec.raw !== spec.name) {
+        throw validationError
+      }
+    }
+
     // we prune by default unless explicitly set to boolean false
     this.#prune = options.prune !== false
 
diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/test/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js b/workspaces/arborist/test/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
index 4ab079ef9984e..ad4eae06a81a8 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/test/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/test/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
@@ -2389,6 +2389,47 @@ t.test('remove deps when initializing tree from actual tree', async t => {
   t.equal(tree.children.get('foo'), undefined, 'removed foo child')
 })
 
+t.test('remove deps with a version spec', async t => {
+  const path = t.testdir({
+    node_modules: {
+      foo: {
+        'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+          name: 'foo',
+          version: '1.2.3',
+        }),
+      },
+    },
+  })
+
+  createRegistry(t, false)
+  const invalidArgs = [
+    'foo@1.2.3',
+    'foo@next',
+    'foo@^1.0.0',
+    'foo@>=2.0.0',
+    'foo@2',
+  ]
+  for (const rmName of invalidArgs) {
+    await t.rejects(
+      buildIdeal(path, { rm: [rmName] }),
+      { code: 'ERMARGS', message: /npm rm foo/ },
+      'should throw an error when the package name has a version'
+    )
+  }
+
+  await t.rejects(
+    buildIdeal(path, { rm: ['@scope/foo@1.2.3'] }),
+    { code: 'ERMARGS', message: /npm rm @scope\/foo/ },
+    'should throw an error when a scoped package name has a version'
+  )
+
+  await t.rejects(
+    buildIdeal(path, { rm: ['./foo'] }),
+    { code: 'ERMARGS', message: /npm rm <pkg>/ },
+    'should throw an error when the package is a path'
+  )
+})
+
 t.test('detect conflicts in transitive peerOptional deps', async t => {
   const base = resolve(fixtures, 'test-conflicted-optional-peer-dep')