diff --git a/.changeset/empty-chairs-push.md b/.changeset/empty-chairs-push.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a8b815565b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/empty-chairs-push.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/resolve-dependencies": major
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+Refuse to install when `peerDependencies` has specifications that don't make sense.
diff --git a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/toResolveImporter.ts b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/toResolveImporter.ts
index 0fe648d037..6aeeba7ba1 100644
--- a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/toResolveImporter.ts
+++ b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/toResolveImporter.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { type ImporterToResolve } from '.'
 import { getWantedDependencies, type WantedDependency } from './getWantedDependencies'
 import { type ImporterToResolveGeneric } from './resolveDependencyTree'
 import { safeIsInnerLink } from './safeIsInnerLink'
+import { validatePeerDependencies } from './validatePeerDependencies'
 
 export interface ResolveImporter extends ImporterToResolve, ImporterToResolveGeneric<{ isNew?: boolean }> {
   wantedDependencies: Array<WantedDependency & {
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ export async function toResolveImporter (
   },
   project: ImporterToResolve
 ): Promise<ResolveImporter> {
+  validatePeerDependencies(project)
   const allDeps = getWantedDependencies(project.manifest)
   const nonLinkedDependencies = await partitionLinkedPackages(allDeps, {
     lockfileOnly: opts.lockfileOnly,
diff --git a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/validatePeerDependencies.ts b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/validatePeerDependencies.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..60acd81d71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/validatePeerDependencies.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import { PnpmError } from '@pnpm/error'
+import { type ProjectManifest } from '@pnpm/types'
+import { validRange } from 'semver'
+
+export interface ProjectToValidate {
+  rootDir: string
+  manifest: Pick<ProjectManifest, 'name' | 'peerDependencies'>
+}
+
+export function validatePeerDependencies (project: ProjectToValidate): void {
+  const { name, peerDependencies } = project.manifest
+  const projectId = name ?? project.rootDir
+  for (const depName in peerDependencies) {
+    const version = peerDependencies[depName]
+    if (!isValidPeerVersion(version)) {
+      throw new PnpmError(
+        'INVALID_PEER_DEPENDENCY_SPECIFICATION',
+        `The peerDependencies field named '${depName}' of package '${projectId}' has an invalid value: '${version}'`,
+        {
+          hint: 'The values in peerDependencies should be either a valid semver range, a `workspace:` spec, or a `catalog:` spec',
+        }
+      )
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+function isValidPeerVersion (version: string): boolean {
+  return typeof validRange(version) === 'string' || version.startsWith('workspace:') || version.startsWith('catalog:')
+}
diff --git a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/test/validatePeerDependencies.test.ts b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/test/validatePeerDependencies.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e07c0725c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/test/validatePeerDependencies.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import { validatePeerDependencies } from '../src/validatePeerDependencies'
+
+test('accepts valid specifications that make sense for peerDependencies', () => {
+  validatePeerDependencies({
+    rootDir: '/repo/packages/pkg',
+    manifest: {
+      peerDependencies: {
+        'semver-range': '>=1.2.3 || ^3.2.1',
+        'workspace-scheme': 'workspace:^',
+        'catalog-scheme': 'catalog:',
+      },
+    },
+  })
+})
+
+test('forbids aliases', () => {
+  expect(validatePeerDependencies.bind(null, {
+    rootDir: '/repo/packages/pkg',
+    manifest: {
+      peerDependencies: {
+        foo: 'bar@1.2.3',
+      },
+    },
+  })).toThrow('The peerDependencies field named \'foo\' of package \'/repo/packages/pkg\' has an invalid value: \'bar@1.2.3\'')
+  expect(validatePeerDependencies.bind(null, {
+    rootDir: '/repo/packages/pkg',
+    manifest: {
+      name: 'my-pkg',
+      peerDependencies: {
+        foo: 'bar@1.2.3',
+      },
+    },
+  })).toThrow('The peerDependencies field named \'foo\' of package \'my-pkg\' has an invalid value: \'bar@1.2.3\'')
+})
+
+test('forbids `file:` scheme', () => {
+  expect(validatePeerDependencies.bind(null, {
+    rootDir: '/repo/packages/pkg',
+    manifest: {
+      peerDependencies: {
+        foo: 'file:../foo',
+      },
+    },
+  })).toThrow('The peerDependencies field named \'foo\' of package \'/repo/packages/pkg\' has an invalid value: \'file:../foo\'')
+  expect(validatePeerDependencies.bind(null, {
+    rootDir: '/repo/packages/pkg',
+    manifest: {
+      name: 'my-pkg',
+      peerDependencies: {
+        foo: 'file:../foo',
+      },
+    },
+  })).toThrow('The peerDependencies field named \'foo\' of package \'my-pkg\' has an invalid value: \'file:../foo\'')
+})
+
+test('forbids `link:` scheme', () => {
+  expect(validatePeerDependencies.bind(null, {
+    rootDir: '/repo/packages/pkg',
+    manifest: {
+      peerDependencies: {
+        foo: 'link:../foo',
+      },
+    },
+  })).toThrow('The peerDependencies field named \'foo\' of package \'/repo/packages/pkg\' has an invalid value: \'link:../foo\'')
+  expect(validatePeerDependencies.bind(null, {
+    rootDir: '/repo/packages/pkg',
+    manifest: {
+      name: 'my-pkg',
+      peerDependencies: {
+        foo: 'link:../foo',
+      },
+    },
+  })).toThrow('The peerDependencies field named \'foo\' of package \'my-pkg\' has an invalid value: \'link:../foo\'')
+})