diff --git a/app/models/gem_typo.rb b/app/models/gem_typo.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d0585e286cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/gem_typo.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+require "rubygems/text"
+
+class GemTypo
+  attr_reader :protected_gem
+
+  include Gem::Text
+
+  DOWNLOADS_THRESHOLD = 10_000_000
+  SIZE_THRESHOLD = 4
+
+  def initialize(rubygem_name)
+    @rubygem_name       = rubygem_name.downcase
+    @distance_threshold = distance_threshold
+  end
+
+  def protected_typo?
+    return false if @rubygem_name.size < GemTypo::SIZE_THRESHOLD
+
+    protected_gems.each do |protected_gem|
+      distance = levenshtein_distance(@rubygem_name, protected_gem)
+      if distance <= @distance_threshold
+        @protected_gem = protected_gem
+        return true
+      end
+    end
+
+    false
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  def distance_threshold
+    @rubygem_name.size == GemTypo::SIZE_THRESHOLD ? 1 : 2
+  end
+
+  def protected_gems
+    Rubygem.joins(:gem_download)
+      .where("gem_downloads.count > ?", GemTypo::DOWNLOADS_THRESHOLD)
+      .where.not(name: @rubygem_name)
+      .pluck(:name)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/models/rubygem.rb b/app/models/rubygem.rb
index 9388d0fe95e..49f6b9ddce5 100644
--- a/app/models/rubygem.rb
+++ b/app/models/rubygem.rb
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ class Rubygem < ApplicationRecord
     uniqueness: { case_sensitive: false },
     if: :needs_name_validation?
   validate :blacklist_names_exclusion
+  validate :protected_gem_typo, on: :create
 
   after_create :update_unresolved
   before_destroy :mark_unresolved
@@ -308,6 +309,13 @@ def blacklist_names_exclusion
     errors.add :name, "'#{name}' is a reserved gem name."
   end
 
+  def protected_gem_typo
+    gem_typo = GemTypo.new(name)
+
+    return unless gem_typo.protected_typo?
+    errors.add :name, "'#{name}' is too close to typo-protected gem: #{gem_typo.protected_gem}"
+  end
+
   def update_unresolved
     Dependency.where(unresolved_name: name).find_each do |dependency|
       dependency.update_resolved(self)
diff --git a/test/functional/api/v1/rubygems_controller_test.rb b/test/functional/api/v1/rubygems_controller_test.rb
index 0a9f3076502..2a2108fb394 100644
--- a/test/functional/api/v1/rubygems_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/functional/api/v1/rubygems_controller_test.rb
@@ -308,6 +308,20 @@ def self.should_respond_to(format)
       end
     end
 
+    context "On POST to create with a protected gem name" do
+      setup do
+        above_downloads_thres = GemTypo::DOWNLOADS_THRESHOLD + 1
+        create(:rubygem, name: "best", downloads: above_downloads_thres)
+        post :create, body: gem_file("test-1.0.0.gem").read
+      end
+
+      should respond_with :forbidden
+      should "not register new gem" do
+        assert_equal 1, Rubygem.count
+        assert_equal "There was a problem saving your gem: Name 'test' is too close to typo-protected gem: best", @response.body
+      end
+    end
+
     context "On POST to create for someone else's gem" do
       setup do
         @other_user = create(:user)
diff --git a/test/unit/gem_typo_test.rb b/test/unit/gem_typo_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7fa51811d95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/gem_typo_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+require "test_helper"
+
+class GemTypoTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
+  context "with above downloads threshold gem" do
+    setup do
+      above_downloads_thres = GemTypo::DOWNLOADS_THRESHOLD + 1
+      create(:rubygem, name: "four", downloads: above_downloads_thres)
+    end
+
+    should "return false for exact match" do
+      gem_typo = GemTypo.new("four")
+      assert_equal false, gem_typo.protected_typo?
+    end
+
+    should "return false for gem name size below protected threshold" do
+      gem_typo = GemTypo.new("fou")
+      assert_equal false, gem_typo.protected_typo?
+    end
+
+    context "size equals protected threshold" do
+      should "return true for one character distance" do
+        gem_typo = GemTypo.new("fous")
+        assert_equal true, gem_typo.protected_typo?
+      end
+
+      should "return false for two character distance" do
+        gem_typo = GemTypo.new("foss")
+        assert_equal false, gem_typo.protected_typo?
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "size above protected threshold" do
+      should "return true for two character distance" do
+        gem_typo = GemTypo.new("fourss")
+        assert_equal true, gem_typo.protected_typo?
+      end
+
+      should "return false for three characher distance" do
+        gem_typo = GemTypo.new("foursss")
+        assert_equal false, gem_typo.protected_typo?
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end