diff --git a/django/conf/urls/static.py b/django/conf/urls/static.py
index 150f4ffd3f0..fa83645b9dd 100644
--- a/django/conf/urls/static.py
+++ b/django/conf/urls/static.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import re
+from urllib.parse import urlsplit
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ def static(prefix, view=serve, **kwargs):
     """
     if not prefix:
         raise ImproperlyConfigured("Empty static prefix not permitted")
-    elif not settings.DEBUG or '://' in prefix:
+    elif not settings.DEBUG or urlsplit(prefix).netloc:
         # No-op if not in debug mode or a non-local prefix.
         return []
     return [
diff --git a/tests/view_tests/tests/test_static.py b/tests/view_tests/tests/test_static.py
index 03cb19ea027..3154ce17037 100644
--- a/tests/view_tests/tests/test_static.py
+++ b/tests/view_tests/tests/test_static.py
@@ -153,8 +153,9 @@ class StaticHelperTest(StaticTests):
             static('')
 
     def test_special_prefix(self):
-        """No URLs are served if prefix contains '://'."""
-        self.assertEqual(static('http://'), [])
+        """No URLs are served if prefix contains a netloc part."""
+        self.assertEqual(static('http://example.org'), [])
+        self.assertEqual(static('//example.org'), [])
 
 
 class StaticUtilsTests(unittest.TestCase):