diff --git a/internal/client/gitea.go b/internal/client/gitea.go
index c2be325b2..2bba9e212 100644
--- a/internal/client/gitea.go
+++ b/internal/client/gitea.go
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ func (c *giteaClient) ReleaseURLTemplate(ctx *context.Context) (string, error) {
 	}
 
 	return fmt.Sprintf(
-		"%s/%s/%s/releases/download/{{ .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+		"%s/%s/%s/releases/download/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		downloadURL,
 		ctx.Config.Release.Gitea.Owner,
 		ctx.Config.Release.Gitea.Name,
diff --git a/internal/client/gitea_test.go b/internal/client/gitea_test.go
index 5e860ee0e..be9fa6c62 100644
--- a/internal/client/gitea_test.go
+++ b/internal/client/gitea_test.go
@@ -486,12 +486,12 @@ func TestGiteaReleaseURLTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:            "string_url",
 			downloadURL:     "https://gitea.com",
-			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitea.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitea.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		},
 		{
 			name:            "download_url_template",
 			downloadURL:     "{{ .Env.GORELEASER_TEST_GITEA_URLS_DOWNLOAD }}",
-			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitea.mycompany.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitea.mycompany.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		},
 		{
 			name:        "download_url_template_invalid_value",
diff --git a/internal/client/github.go b/internal/client/github.go
index 31ae029f7..204108e61 100644
--- a/internal/client/github.go
+++ b/internal/client/github.go
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ func (c *githubClient) ReleaseURLTemplate(ctx *context.Context) (string, error)
 	}
 
 	return fmt.Sprintf(
-		"%s/%s/%s/releases/download/{{ .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+		"%s/%s/%s/releases/download/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		downloadURL,
 		ctx.Config.Release.GitHub.Owner,
 		ctx.Config.Release.GitHub.Name,
diff --git a/internal/client/github_test.go b/internal/client/github_test.go
index 1e4feb7ea..8a62ca5f4 100644
--- a/internal/client/github_test.go
+++ b/internal/client/github_test.go
@@ -138,12 +138,12 @@ func TestGitHubReleaseURLTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:            "default_download_url",
 			downloadURL:     DefaultGitHubDownloadURL,
-			wantDownloadURL: "https://github.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			wantDownloadURL: "https://github.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		},
 		{
 			name:            "download_url_template",
 			downloadURL:     "{{ .Env.GORELEASER_TEST_GITHUB_URLS_DOWNLOAD }}",
-			wantDownloadURL: "https://github.mycompany.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			wantDownloadURL: "https://github.mycompany.com/owner/name/releases/download/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		},
 		{
 			name:        "download_url_template_invalid_value",
diff --git a/internal/client/gitlab.go b/internal/client/gitlab.go
index 7b442f203..4a03b0fc2 100644
--- a/internal/client/gitlab.go
+++ b/internal/client/gitlab.go
@@ -447,14 +447,14 @@ func (c *gitlabClient) ReleaseURLTemplate(ctx *context.Context) (string, error)
 
 	if ctx.Config.Release.GitLab.Owner != "" {
 		urlTemplate = fmt.Sprintf(
-			"%s/%s/%s/-/releases/{{ .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			"%s/%s/%s/-/releases/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 			downloadURL,
 			ctx.Config.Release.GitLab.Owner,
 			gitlabName,
 		)
 	} else {
 		urlTemplate = fmt.Sprintf(
-			"%s/%s/-/releases/{{ .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			"%s/%s/-/releases/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 			downloadURL,
 			gitlabName,
 		)
diff --git a/internal/client/gitlab_test.go b/internal/client/gitlab_test.go
index 2d580d9b7..5195f47f2 100644
--- a/internal/client/gitlab_test.go
+++ b/internal/client/gitlab_test.go
@@ -37,19 +37,19 @@ func TestGitLabReleaseURLTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 			name:            "default_download_url",
 			downloadURL:     DefaultGitLabDownloadURL,
 			repo:            repo,
-			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitlab.com/owner/name/-/releases/{{ .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitlab.com/owner/name/-/releases/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		},
 		{
 			name:            "default_download_url_no_owner",
 			downloadURL:     DefaultGitLabDownloadURL,
 			repo:            config.Repo{Name: "name"},
-			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitlab.com/name/-/releases/{{ .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitlab.com/name/-/releases/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		},
 		{
 			name:            "download_url_template",
 			repo:            repo,
 			downloadURL:     "{{ .Env.GORELEASER_TEST_GITLAB_URLS_DOWNLOAD }}",
-			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitlab.mycompany.com/owner/name/-/releases/{{ .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
+			wantDownloadURL: "https://gitlab.mycompany.com/owner/name/-/releases/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/downloads/{{ .ArtifactName }}",
 		},
 		{
 			name:        "download_url_template_invalid_value",
diff --git a/internal/client/mock.go b/internal/client/mock.go
index 4af607157..cf62dc0cd 100644
--- a/internal/client/mock.go
+++ b/internal/client/mock.go
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func (c *Mock) PublishRelease(_ *context.Context, _ string /* releaseID */) (err
 }
 
 func (c *Mock) ReleaseURLTemplate(_ *context.Context) (string, error) {
-	return "https://dummyhost/download/{{ .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}", nil
+	return "https://dummyhost/download/{{ urlPathEscape .Tag }}/{{ .ArtifactName }}", nil
 }
 
 func (c *Mock) CreateFile(_ *context.Context, _ config.CommitAuthor, _ Repo, content []byte, path, msg string) error {
diff --git a/internal/tmpl/tmpl.go b/internal/tmpl/tmpl.go
index 7ddb60ecd..d1934393c 100644
--- a/internal/tmpl/tmpl.go
+++ b/internal/tmpl/tmpl.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"maps"
+	"net/url"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
@@ -251,6 +252,7 @@ func (t *Template) Apply(s string) (string, error) {
 			"isEnvSet":       t.isEnvSet,
 			"map":            makemap,
 			"indexOrDefault": indexOrDefault,
+			"urlPathEscape":  url.PathEscape,
 		}).
 		Parse(s)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/tmpl/tmpl_test.go b/internal/tmpl/tmpl_test.go
index 768a5af63..6d59f045e 100644
--- a/internal/tmpl/tmpl_test.go
+++ b/internal/tmpl/tmpl_test.go
@@ -39,8 +39,9 @@ func TestWithArtifact(t *testing.T) {
 			Dirty:       true,
 		}),
 		testctx.WithEnv(map[string]string{
-			"FOO":       "bar",
-			"MULTILINE": "something with\nmultiple lines\nremove this\nto test things",
+			"FOO":          "bar",
+			"MULTILINE":    "something with\nmultiple lines\nremove this\nto test things",
+			"WITH_SLASHES": "foo/bar",
 		}),
 		testctx.WithSemver(1, 2, 3, ""),
 		testctx.Snapshot,
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ func TestWithArtifact(t *testing.T) {
 		"env bar: barrrrr":                    `env bar: {{ envOrDefault "BAR" "barrrrr" }}`,
 		"env foo: bar":                        `env foo: {{ envOrDefault "FOO" "barrrrr" }}`,
 		"env foo is set: true":                `env foo is set: {{ isEnvSet "FOO" }}`,
+		"/foo%2Fbar":                          `/{{ urlPathEscape .Env.WITH_SLASHES}}`,
 
 		"remove this": "{{ filter .Env.MULTILINE \".*remove.*\" }}",
 		"something with\nmultiple lines\nto test things": "{{ reverseFilter .Env.MULTILINE \".*remove.*\" }}",
diff --git a/www/docs/customization/templates.md b/www/docs/customization/templates.md
index 966f79a4d..c90438ec6 100644
--- a/www/docs/customization/templates.md
+++ b/www/docs/customization/templates.md
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ On all fields, you have these available functions:
 | `incmajor "v1.2.4"`               | increments the major of the given version[^panic-if-not-semver]                                                            |
 | `list "a" "b" "c"`                | makes a list of strings[^pro]                                                                                              |
 | `in (list "a" "b" "c") "b"`       | checks if a slice contains a value[^pro]                                                                                   |
+| `urlPathEscape "foo/bar"`         | escapes URL paths. See [PathEscape](https://pkg.go.dev/net/url#PathEscape) (since v2.5)                                    |
 
 [^panic-if-not-semver]: Will panic if not a semantic version.