diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66b78518..22847c76 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,15 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [5.2.2] - 2026-07-24
+
+### Fixed
+- Quote flow scalars where a colon precedes a flow indicator, #773.
+
+### Security
+- Avoid exponential parsing time for nested flow sequence pairs.
+
+
 ## [5.2.1] - 2026-07-02
 
 ### Fixed
@@ -673,6 +682,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - First public release
 
 
+[5.2.2]: https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/compare/5.2.1...5.2.2
 [5.2.1]: https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/compare/5.2.0...5.2.1
 [5.2.0]: https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/compare/5.1.0...5.2.0
 [5.1.0]: https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/compare/5.0.0...5.1.0
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8caf92af..2808f296 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "js-yaml",
-  "version": "5.2.1",
+  "version": "5.2.2",
   "description": "YAML 1.2 parser and serializer",
   "keywords": [
     "yaml",
diff --git a/src/parser/parser.ts b/src/parser/parser.ts
index a62da765..432c22c7 100644
--- a/src/parser/parser.ts
+++ b/src/parser/parser.ts
@@ -148,6 +148,18 @@ function addMappingEvent (
   })
 }
 
+function insertFlowPairMappingEvent (state: ParserState, snapshot: ParserSnapshot) {
+  state.events.splice(snapshot.eventsLength, 0, {
+    type: EVENT_MAPPING,
+    start: snapshot.position,
+    anchorStart: NO_RANGE,
+    anchorEnd: NO_RANGE,
+    tagStart: NO_RANGE,
+    tagEnd: NO_RANGE,
+    style: COLLECTION_STYLE_FLOW
+  })
+}
+
 function addScalarEvent (
   state: ParserState,
   valueStart: number,
@@ -911,14 +923,8 @@ function readFlowCollection (state: ParserState, nodeIndent: number, props: Node
       state.position++
       skipFlowSeparationSpace(state, nodeIndent)
       if (!isMapping) {
-        restoreState(state, entryStart)
-        addMappingEvent(state, entryStart.position, NO_RANGE, NO_RANGE, NO_RANGE, NO_RANGE, COLLECTION_STYLE_FLOW)
-        if (!parseNode(state, nodeIndent, CONTEXT_FLOW_IN, false, true)) {
-          addEmptyScalarEvent(state)
-        }
-        skipFlowSeparationSpace(state, nodeIndent)
-        state.position++
-        skipFlowSeparationSpace(state, nodeIndent)
+        insertFlowPairMappingEvent(state, entryStart)
+        if (!keyWasRead) addEmptyScalarEvent(state)
       } else if (!keyWasRead) {
         addEmptyScalarEvent(state)
       }
@@ -933,9 +939,8 @@ function readFlowCollection (state: ParserState, nodeIndent: number, props: Node
     } else if (isMapping) {
       addEmptyScalarEvent(state)
     } else if (isPair) {
-      restoreState(state, entryStart)
-      addMappingEvent(state, entryStart.position, NO_RANGE, NO_RANGE, NO_RANGE, NO_RANGE, COLLECTION_STYLE_FLOW)
-      parseNode(state, nodeIndent, CONTEXT_FLOW_IN, false, true)
+      insertFlowPairMappingEvent(state, entryStart)
+      if (!keyWasRead) addEmptyScalarEvent(state)
       addEmptyScalarEvent(state)
       addPopEvent(state)
     }
diff --git a/test/core/pathological.test.mjs b/test/core/pathological.test.mjs
index b697fd06..b106fe59 100644
--- a/test/core/pathological.test.mjs
+++ b/test/core/pathological.test.mjs
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ describe('Pathological tests', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  describe('Flow collection pairs', () => {
+    it('throws YAMLException on nested flow pairs without reparsing keys exponentially', () => {
+      assertYamlException(() => {
+        load('[ '.repeat(40) + '1' + ' ]: 0'.repeat(40))
+      }, /object-based map does not support complex keys/)
+    })
+  })
+
   describe('Merge aliases', () => {
     it('throws YAMLException when merge chain exceeds maxTotalMergeKeys', () => {
       assertYamlException(() => {