diff --git a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java
index 2e95c58fd5b..e2687b2909f 100644
--- a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java
+++ b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package org.springframework.web.reactive.resource;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URLDecoder;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.util.Locale;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
@@ -69,17 +68,15 @@ public abstract class ResourceHandlerUtils {
 			}
 			else if (location instanceof ClassPathResource classPathResource) {
 				path = classPathResource.getPath();
-				if (path.isEmpty() || "/".equals(path)) {
-					logger.warn("Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
-							"and should not be used as it provides access to the entire classpath.");
-				}
+				Assert.isTrue(!path.isEmpty() && !"/".equals(path),
+						() -> "Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
+								"and cannot be used as it provides access to the entire classpath.");
 			}
 			else if (location instanceof ContextResource contextResource) {
 				path = contextResource.getPathWithinContext();
-				if ("/".equals(path)) {
-					logger.warn("Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
-							"and should not be used as it provides access to the root servlet context.");
-				}
+				Assert.isTrue(!"/".equals(path),
+						() -> "Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
+								"and cannot be used as it provides access to the root servlet context.");
 			}
 			else if (location instanceof UrlResource) {
 				path = location.getURL().toExternalForm();
@@ -176,7 +173,6 @@ public abstract class ResourceHandlerUtils {
 	/**
 	 * Checks for invalid resource input paths rejecting the following:
 	 * <ul>
-	 * <li>Paths that contain "WEB-INF" or "META-INF"
 	 * <li>Paths that contain "../" after a call to
 	 * {@link StringUtils#cleanPath}.
 	 * <li>Paths that represent a {@link ResourceUtils#isUrl
@@ -189,14 +185,6 @@ public abstract class ResourceHandlerUtils {
 	 * @return {@code true} if the path is invalid, {@code false} otherwise
 	 */
 	public static boolean isInvalidPath(String path) {
-		String pathLowerCase = path.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
-		if (pathLowerCase.contains("web-inf") || pathLowerCase.contains("meta-inf")) {
-			if (logger.isWarnEnabled()) {
-				logger.warn(LogFormatUtils.formatValue(
-						"Path with \"WEB-INF\" or \"META-INF\": [" + path + "]", -1, true));
-			}
-			return true;
-		}
 		if (path.contains(":/")) {
 			String relativePath = (path.charAt(0) == '/' ? path.substring(1) : path);
 			if (ResourceUtils.isUrl(relativePath) || relativePath.startsWith("url:")) {
diff --git a/spring-webflux/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/resource/ResourceHandlerUtilsTests.java b/spring-webflux/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/resource/ResourceHandlerUtilsTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3b3c0059c71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-webflux/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/resource/ResourceHandlerUtilsTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-present the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.web.reactive.resource;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URL;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ContextResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.FileSystemResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.PathResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.UrlResource;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatIllegalArgumentException;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatNoException;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for {@link ResourceHandlerUtils}.
+ */
+class ResourceHandlerUtilsTests {
+
+	@Test
+	@SuppressWarnings("removal")
+	void assertResourceLocation() throws Exception {
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new FileSystemResource("test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new PathResource("test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new UrlResource("file:/test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new TestContextResource("/test/")));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectNull() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(null))
+				.withMessage("Resource location must not be null");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectNotEndWithSlash() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("test")))
+				.withMessageContaining("Resource location does not end with slash");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectUnsafeClassPathResource() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("")))
+				.withMessageContaining("is considered unsafe");
+
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("/")))
+				.withMessageContaining("is considered unsafe");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectUnsafeContextResource() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new TestContextResource("/")))
+				.withMessageContaining("is considered unsafe");
+	}
+
+	private static class TestContextResource implements ContextResource {
+
+		private final String path;
+
+		TestContextResource(String path) {
+			this.path = path;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String getPathWithinContext() {
+			return this.path;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean exists() {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public URL getURL() throws IOException {
+			throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public URI getURI() throws IOException {
+			throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public File getFile() throws IOException {
+			throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public long contentLength() throws IOException {
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public long lastModified() throws IOException {
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public org.springframework.core.io.Resource createRelative(String relativePath) throws IOException {
+			throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String getFilename() {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String getDescription() {
+			return "TestContextResource";
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public InputStream getInputStream() throws IOException {
+			throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java
index 5b1a133c8fa..214f80fc5f1 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/resource/ResourceHandlerUtils.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package org.springframework.web.servlet.resource;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URLDecoder;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.util.Locale;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
@@ -70,17 +69,15 @@ public abstract class ResourceHandlerUtils {
 			}
 			else if (location instanceof ClassPathResource classPathResource) {
 				path = classPathResource.getPath();
-				if (path.isEmpty() || "/".equals(path)) {
-					logger.warn("Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
-							"and should not be used as it provides access to the entire classpath.");
-				}
+				Assert.isTrue(!path.isEmpty() && !"/".equals(path),
+						() -> "Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
+								"and cannot be used as it provides access to the entire classpath.");
 			}
 			else if (location instanceof ContextResource contextResource) {
 				path = contextResource.getPathWithinContext();
-				if ("/".equals(path)) {
-					logger.warn("Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
-							"and should not be used as it provides access to the root servlet context.");
-				}
+				Assert.isTrue(!"/".equals(path),
+						() -> "Resource location '" + location + "' is considered unsafe " +
+								"and cannot be used as it provides access to the root servlet context.");
 			}
 			else if (location instanceof UrlResource) {
 				path = location.getURL().toExternalForm();
@@ -177,7 +174,6 @@ public abstract class ResourceHandlerUtils {
 	/**
 	 * Checks for invalid resource input paths rejecting the following:
 	 * <ul>
-	 * <li>Paths that contain "WEB-INF" or "META-INF"
 	 * <li>Paths that contain "../" after a call to
 	 * {@link org.springframework.util.StringUtils#cleanPath}.
 	 * <li>Paths that represent a {@link org.springframework.util.ResourceUtils#isUrl
@@ -190,14 +186,6 @@ public abstract class ResourceHandlerUtils {
 	 * @return {@code true} if the path is invalid, {@code false} otherwise
 	 */
 	public static boolean isInvalidPath(String path) {
-		String pathLowerCase = path.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
-		if (pathLowerCase.contains("web-inf") || pathLowerCase.contains("meta-inf")) {
-			if (logger.isWarnEnabled()) {
-				logger.warn(LogFormatUtils.formatValue(
-						"Path with \"WEB-INF\" or \"META-INF\": [" + path + "]", -1, true));
-			}
-			return true;
-		}
 		if (path.contains(":/")) {
 			String relativePath = (path.charAt(0) == '/' ? path.substring(1) : path);
 			if (ResourceUtils.isUrl(relativePath) || relativePath.startsWith("url:")) {
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/annotation/DelegatingWebMvcConfigurationTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/annotation/DelegatingWebMvcConfigurationTests.java
index ce8be354416..019a7c0ba09 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/annotation/DelegatingWebMvcConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/annotation/DelegatingWebMvcConfigurationTests.java
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ class DelegatingWebMvcConfigurationTests {
 			}
 			@Override
 			public void addResourceHandlers(ResourceHandlerRegistry registry) {
-				registry.addResourceHandler("/resources/**").addResourceLocations("/");
+				registry.addResourceHandler("/resources/**").addResourceLocations("/static");
 			}
 		};
 
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ class DelegatingWebMvcConfigurationTests {
 			}
 			@Override
 			public void addResourceHandlers(ResourceHandlerRegistry registry) {
-				registry.addResourceHandler("/resources/**").addResourceLocations("/");
+				registry.addResourceHandler("/resources/**").addResourceLocations("/static");
 			}
 		};
 
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/resource/ResourceHandlerUtilsTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/resource/ResourceHandlerUtilsTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..84c72de129b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/resource/ResourceHandlerUtilsTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-present the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.web.servlet.resource;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.FileSystemResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.PathResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.UrlResource;
+import org.springframework.web.context.support.ServletContextResource;
+import org.springframework.web.testfixture.servlet.MockServletContext;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatIllegalArgumentException;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatNoException;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for {@link ResourceHandlerUtils}.
+ */
+class ResourceHandlerUtilsTests {
+
+	@Test
+	@SuppressWarnings("removal")
+	void assertResourceLocation() throws Exception {
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new FileSystemResource("test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new PathResource("test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new UrlResource("file:/test/")));
+
+		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ServletContextResource(new MockServletContext(), "/test/")));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectNull() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(null))
+				.withMessage("Resource location must not be null");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectNotEndWithSlash() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("test")))
+				.withMessageContaining("Resource location does not end with slash");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectUnsafeClassPathResource() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("")))
+				.withMessageContaining("is considered unsafe");
+
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ClassPathResource("/")))
+				.withMessageContaining("is considered unsafe");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void assertResourceLocationShouldRejectUnsafeContextResource() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				ResourceHandlerUtils.assertResourceLocation(new ServletContextResource(new MockServletContext(), "/")))
+				.withMessageContaining("is considered unsafe");
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-custom-pattern-parser.xml b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-custom-pattern-parser.xml
index 4e3e5bec51d..a95c8c72c00 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-custom-pattern-parser.xml
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-custom-pattern-parser.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,6 @@
 	</mvc:annotation-driven>
 
 	<mvc:view-controller path="/foo"/>
-	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/, classpath:/META-INF/"/>
+	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/static, classpath:/META-INF/"/>
 
 </beans>
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-deprecated-path-matcher.xml b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-deprecated-path-matcher.xml
index 78afbe8cb6f..bbf133b14ea 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-deprecated-path-matcher.xml
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-deprecated-path-matcher.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,6 @@
 	</mvc:annotation-driven>
 
 	<mvc:view-controller path="/foo"/>
-	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/, classpath:/META-INF/"/>
+	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/static, classpath:/META-INF/"/>
 
 </beans>
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-path-matching-mappings.xml b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-path-matching-mappings.xml
index 91d21e6695f..dfd73140dfe 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-path-matching-mappings.xml
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-path-matching-mappings.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans https://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc https://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc.xsd">
 
-    <mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/, classpath:/META-INF/" />
+    <mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/static, classpath:/META-INF/" />
 
     <mvc:annotation-driven>
         <mvc:path-matching
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain-no-auto.xml b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain-no-auto.xml
index d6a7870f5d1..abd2ea2fb10 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain-no-auto.xml
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain-no-auto.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans https://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc https://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc.xsd">
 
-	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/, classpath:/META-INF/">
+	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/static, classpath:/META-INF/">
 		<mvc:cache-control max-age="3600" s-maxage="1800" cache-public="true"/>
 		<mvc:resource-chain resource-cache="false" auto-registration="false">
 			<mvc:resolvers>
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain.xml b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain.xml
index 6ab67c7449f..5adf76a58fd 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain.xml
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-chain.xml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 		</property>
 	</bean>
 
-	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/, classpath:/META-INF/, [charset=ISO-8859-1]${location}">
+	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/static, classpath:/META-INF/, [charset=ISO-8859-1]${location}">
 		<mvc:resource-chain resource-cache="true" cache-manager="resourceCache" cache-name="test-resource-cache">
 			<mvc:resolvers>
 				<mvc:version-resolver>
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-optional-attrs.xml b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-optional-attrs.xml
index ddaa6ccd9b2..9145315afad 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-optional-attrs.xml
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources-optional-attrs.xml
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@
 	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans https://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc https://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc.xsd">
 
-	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/, classpath:/META-INF/" cache-period="3600" order="5"/>
+	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/static, classpath:/META-INF/" cache-period="3600" order="5"/>
 
 </beans>
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources.xml b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources.xml
index 8348ae99586..997b80d1bd5 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources.xml
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/mvc-config-resources.xml
@@ -6,6 +6,6 @@
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc https://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc.xsd">
 
 	<mvc:annotation-driven />
-	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/, classpath:/META-INF/" />
+	<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/static, classpath:/META-INF/" />
 
 </beans>