diff --git a/scripts/validate-cli-package.test.ts b/scripts/validate-cli-package.test.ts
index 32335916..6bbad548 100644
--- a/scripts/validate-cli-package.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/validate-cli-package.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@ import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { create } from "tar";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { validateCliPackageArchive } from "./validate-cli-package.js";
+import {
+  parseValidateCliPackageArguments,
+  validateCliPackageArchive,
+} from "./validate-cli-package.js";
 
 interface PackageFixtureOptions {
   binContent?: string;
@@ -43,6 +46,21 @@ const validPackedManifest = {
 };
 
 describe("validate-cli-package", () => {
+  it("accepts pnpm's forwarded argument separator", () => {
+    expect(
+      parseValidateCliPackageArguments([
+        "--",
+        "--tarball",
+        "release/cli.tgz",
+        "--source-package-json",
+        "packages/cli/package.json",
+      ])
+    ).toEqual({
+      sourcePackageJsonPath: "packages/cli/package.json",
+      tarballPath: "release/cli.tgz",
+    });
+  });
+
   it("accepts package entry fields that resolve to real archive files", async () => {
     const fixture = await createPackageFixture();
 
diff --git a/scripts/validate-cli-package.ts b/scripts/validate-cli-package.ts
index caa7312e..68091513 100644
--- a/scripts/validate-cli-package.ts
+++ b/scripts/validate-cli-package.ts
@@ -268,12 +268,15 @@ function isRecord(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
   return typeof value === "object" && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value);
 }
 
-function parseArguments(argv: string[]): ValidateCliPackageInput {
+export function parseValidateCliPackageArguments(argv: string[]): ValidateCliPackageInput {
   let tarballPath: string | undefined;
   let sourcePackageJsonPath: string | undefined;
 
   for (let index = 0; index < argv.length; index++) {
     const argument = argv[index];
+    if (argument === "--") {
+      continue;
+    }
     if (argument === "--tarball") {
       tarballPath = argv[++index];
     } else if (argument === "--source-package-json") {
@@ -291,7 +294,7 @@ function parseArguments(argv: string[]): ValidateCliPackageInput {
 }
 
 if (isDirectExecution(import.meta.url)) {
-  validateCliPackageArchive(parseArguments(process.argv.slice(2)))
+  validateCliPackageArchive(parseValidateCliPackageArguments(process.argv.slice(2)))
     .then((result) => {
       success(
         `Validated ${result.name}@${result.version} package entry files: ${result.entryTargets.join(", ")}`