diff --git a/conformance/third_party/conformance.exp b/conformance/third_party/conformance.exp
index 8d1da0a01..a797388d3 100644
--- a/conformance/third_party/conformance.exp
+++ b/conformance/third_party/conformance.exp
@@ -8187,6 +8187,16 @@
       "name": "bad-assignment",
       "stop_column": 36,
       "stop_line": 56
+    },
+    {
+      "code": -2,
+      "column": 17,
+      "concise_description": "Cannot instantiate abstract class `Concrete7B`",
+      "description": "Cannot instantiate abstract class `Concrete7B`",
+      "line": 172,
+      "name": "bad-instantiation",
+      "stop_column": 19,
+      "stop_line": 172
     }
   ],
   "protocols_generic.py": [
diff --git a/conformance/third_party/conformance.result b/conformance/third_party/conformance.result
index 21ae31902..69941bd9a 100644
--- a/conformance/third_party/conformance.result
+++ b/conformance/third_party/conformance.result
@@ -360,7 +360,8 @@
     "Line 90: Expected 1 errors",
     "Line 110: Expected 1 errors",
     "Line 135: Expected 1 errors",
-    "Line 165: Expected 1 errors"
+    "Line 165: Expected 1 errors",
+    "Line 172: Unexpected errors ['Cannot instantiate abstract class `Concrete7B`']"
   ],
   "protocols_generic.py": [
     "Line 144: Unexpected errors ['`ConcreteHasProperty1` is not assignable to `HasPropertyProto`']"
diff --git a/conformance/third_party/results.json b/conformance/third_party/results.json
index 01476d7c4..4c5b03320 100644
--- a/conformance/third_party/results.json
+++ b/conformance/third_party/results.json
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@
     "overloads_evaluation.py": 14,
     "protocols_class_objects.py": 7,
     "protocols_definition.py": 3,
-    "protocols_explicit.py": 6,
+    "protocols_explicit.py": 7,
     "protocols_generic.py": 1,
     "protocols_merging.py": 1,
     "protocols_modules.py": 1,
diff --git a/crates/pyrefly_types/src/callable.rs b/crates/pyrefly_types/src/callable.rs
index 698d408e9..f8484b2cb 100644
--- a/crates/pyrefly_types/src/callable.rs
+++ b/crates/pyrefly_types/src/callable.rs
@@ -244,6 +244,8 @@ pub struct FuncFlags {
     pub has_enum_member_decoration: bool,
     pub is_override: bool,
     pub has_final_decoration: bool,
+    /// A function decorated with `@abc.abstractmethod`
+    pub is_abstract_method: bool,
     /// A function decorated with `typing.dataclass_transform(...)`, turning it into a
     /// `dataclasses.dataclass`-like decorator. Stores the keyword values passed to the
     /// `dataclass_transform` call. See
diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/alt/call.rs b/pyrefly/lib/alt/call.rs
index 91c7e11a3..866555bcb 100644
--- a/pyrefly/lib/alt/call.rs
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/alt/call.rs
@@ -396,6 +396,18 @@ impl<'a, Ans: LookupAnswer> AnswersSolver<'a, Ans> {
         hint: Option<&Type>,
     ) -> Type {
         // Based on https://typing.readthedocs.io/en/latest/spec/constructors.html.
+        let instance_ty = Type::ClassType(cls.clone());
+
+        // Check if trying to instantiate an abstract class
+        if self.has_abstract_methods(&cls) {
+            self.error(
+                errors,
+                range,
+                ErrorInfo::Kind(ErrorKind::BadInstantiation),
+                format!("Cannot instantiate abstract class `{}`", cls.name()),
+            );
+        }
+
         if let Some(hint) = hint {
             self.solver()
                 .freshen_class_targs(cls.targs_mut(), self.uniques);
diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/alt/class/class_field.rs b/pyrefly/lib/alt/class/class_field.rs
index 5c5261762..86b8aa84f 100644
--- a/pyrefly/lib/alt/class/class_field.rs
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/alt/class/class_field.rs
@@ -1782,4 +1782,117 @@ impl<'a, Ans: LookupAnswer> AnswersSolver<'a, Ans> {
                 .and_then(|ty| make_bound_method(Type::type_form(cls.clone().to_type()), ty).ok())
         }
     }
+
+    /// Check if a class inherits from abc.ABC
+    ///
+    /// This recursively traverses the class hierarchy to determine if the class
+    /// inherits from Python's abstract base class (abc.ABC). Only classes that
+    /// inherit from abc.ABC can be considered abstract in Python.
+    fn inherits_from_abc(&self, cls: &ClassType) -> bool {
+        let class_obj = cls.class_object();
+
+        // Check if this class is abc.ABC itself
+        if class_obj.module_name().as_str() == "abc" && class_obj.name().as_str() == "ABC" {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        // Recursively check base classes
+        let metadata = self.get_metadata_for_class(class_obj);
+        for base in metadata.bases_with_metadata() {
+            if self.inherits_from_abc(&base.0) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        false
+    }
+
+    /// Check if a class has any unimplemented abstract methods
+    ///
+    /// Returns true if the class:
+    /// 1. Inherits from abc.ABC (or is abc.ABC itself)
+    /// 2. Has abstract methods in its hierarchy that are not implemented
+    ///
+    /// This method is used to prevent instantiation of abstract classes.
+    pub fn has_abstract_methods(&self, cls: &ClassType) -> bool {
+        // Only classes that inherit from abc.ABC can be abstract
+        if !self.inherits_from_abc(cls) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // Check for unimplemented abstract methods with early exit
+        self.has_unimplemented_abstract_methods(cls)
+    }
+
+    /// Check if a class has unimplemented abstract methods
+    fn has_unimplemented_abstract_methods(&self, cls: &ClassType) -> bool {
+        let mut abstract_methods = SmallSet::new();
+
+        // Collect all abstract methods from the hierarchy
+        self.collect_abstract_methods_from_class(cls, &mut abstract_methods);
+
+        // Check each abstract method for concrete implementation
+        for method_name in &abstract_methods {
+            if !self.class_provides_concrete_implementation(cls, method_name) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        false
+    }
+
+    /// Recursively collect abstract methods from a class and its bases
+    fn collect_abstract_methods_from_class(
+        &self,
+        cls: &ClassType,
+        abstract_methods: &mut SmallSet<Name>,
+    ) {
+        let class_obj = cls.class_object();
+        let metadata = self.get_metadata_for_class(class_obj);
+
+        // First collect from base classes
+        for base in metadata.bases_with_metadata() {
+            self.collect_abstract_methods_from_class(&base.0, abstract_methods);
+        }
+
+        // Then collect abstract methods from this class
+        for field_name in class_obj.fields() {
+            if let Some(field) = self.get_from_class(
+                class_obj,
+                &KeyClassField(class_obj.index(), field_name.clone()),
+            ) {
+                match &field.0 {
+                    ClassFieldInner::Simple { ty, .. } => {
+                        if let Type::Function(function) = ty {
+                            if function.metadata.flags.is_abstract_method {
+                                abstract_methods.insert(field_name.clone());
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Check if a class provides a concrete (non-abstract) implementation of a method
+    fn class_provides_concrete_implementation(&self, cls: &ClassType, method_name: &Name) -> bool {
+        let class_obj = cls.class_object();
+
+        // Check if the class has this method
+        if let Some(field) = self.get_from_class(
+            class_obj,
+            &KeyClassField(class_obj.index(), method_name.clone()),
+        ) {
+            match &field.0 {
+                ClassFieldInner::Simple { ty, .. } => {
+                    if let Type::Function(function) = ty {
+                        // Method exists - check if it's concrete (not abstract)
+                        return !function.metadata.flags.is_abstract_method;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        false // Method not found or not a function
+    }
 }
diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/alt/function.rs b/pyrefly/lib/alt/function.rs
index d7cf6daca..7348b769f 100644
--- a/pyrefly/lib/alt/function.rs
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/alt/function.rs
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ impl<'a, Ans: LookupAnswer> AnswersSolver<'a, Ans> {
         let mut has_enum_member_decoration = false;
         let mut is_override = false;
         let mut has_final_decoration = false;
+        let mut is_abstract_method = false;
         let mut dataclass_transform_metadata = None;
         let decorators = decorators
             .iter()
@@ -236,6 +237,10 @@ impl<'a, Ans: LookupAnswer> AnswersSolver<'a, Ans> {
                         has_final_decoration = true;
                         false
                     }
+                    Some(CalleeKind::Function(FunctionKind::AbstractMethod)) => {
+                        is_abstract_method = true;
+                        false
+                    }
                     _ if matches!(decorator_ty, Type::ClassType(cls) if cls.has_qname("warnings", "deprecated")) => {
                         is_deprecated = true;
                         false
@@ -504,6 +509,7 @@ impl<'a, Ans: LookupAnswer> AnswersSolver<'a, Ans> {
                 has_enum_member_decoration,
                 is_override,
                 has_final_decoration,
+                is_abstract_method,
                 dataclass_transform_metadata,
             },
         };
diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/test/abstract_class_instantiation.rs b/pyrefly/lib/test/abstract_class_instantiation.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0eed3d960
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/test/abstract_class_instantiation.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+use crate::testcase;
+
+testcase!(
+    test_abstract_class_instantiation_error,
+    r#"
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+
+class Shape(ABC):
+    @abstractmethod
+    def area(self) -> float:
+        pass
+
+# This should error - cannot instantiate abstract class
+shape = Shape()  # E: Cannot instantiate abstract class `Shape`
+"#,
+);
+
+testcase!(
+    test_concrete_subclass_instantiation_ok,
+    r#"
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+
+class Shape(ABC):
+    @abstractmethod
+    def area(self) -> float:
+        pass
+
+class Circle(Shape):
+    def area(self) -> float:
+        return 3.14
+
+# This should work - concrete subclass can be instantiated
+circle = Circle()
+"#,
+);
+
+testcase!(
+    test_polymorphic_calls_ok,
+    r#"
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+
+class Shape(ABC):
+    @abstractmethod
+    def area(self) -> float:
+        pass
+
+class Circle(Shape):
+    def area(self) -> float:
+        return 3.14
+
+def calculate_area(shape: Shape) -> float:
+    # This should work - polymorphic call is allowed
+    return shape.area()
+
+circle = Circle()
+area = calculate_area(circle)
+"#,
+);
+
+testcase!(
+    test_multiple_abstract_methods,
+    r#"
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+
+class Drawable(ABC):
+    @abstractmethod
+    def draw(self) -> None:
+        pass
+    
+    @abstractmethod
+    def erase(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+# This should error - class has multiple abstract methods
+drawable = Drawable()  # E: Cannot instantiate abstract class `Drawable`
+"#,
+);
+
+testcase!(
+    test_inherited_abstract_method,
+    r#"
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+
+class Base(ABC):
+    @abstractmethod
+    def method(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+class Child(Base):
+    # Child doesn't implement method, so it's still abstract
+    pass
+
+# This should error - child class is still abstract
+child = Child()  # E: Cannot instantiate abstract class `Child`
+"#,
+);
diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/test/mod.rs b/pyrefly/lib/test/mod.rs
index 06701a256..3faba0010 100644
--- a/pyrefly/lib/test/mod.rs
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/test/mod.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 #![cfg(test)]
 
+mod abstract_class_instantiation;
 mod assign;
 mod attribute_narrow;
 mod attributes;
diff --git a/website/docs/error-kinds.mdx b/website/docs/error-kinds.mdx
index fcdb51347..2f3b5c0ae 100644
--- a/website/docs/error-kinds.mdx
+++ b/website/docs/error-kinds.mdx
@@ -170,12 +170,19 @@ For example, argument order is enforced by the parser, so `def f(x: int = 1, y:
 
 ## bad-instantiation
 
-This error occurs when attempting to instantiate a class that cannot be instantiated, such as a protocol:
+This error occurs when attempting to instantiate a class that cannot be instantiated, such as a protocol or an abstract class:
 
 ```python
 from typing import Protocol
 class C(Protocol): ...
 C()  # bad-instantiation
+
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+class Shape(ABC):
+    @abstractmethod
+    def area(self) -> float:
+        pass
+Shape()  # bad-instantiation
 ```
 
 ## bad-keyword-argument