diff --git a/github/resource_github_repository_file.go b/github/resource_github_repository_file.go
index 0d29b8bf63..4c1bed306f 100644
--- a/github/resource_github_repository_file.go
+++ b/github/resource_github_repository_file.go
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ func resourceGithubRepositoryFileCreate(ctx context.Context, d *schema.ResourceD
 		return diag.FromErr(err)
 	}
 
-	newResourceID, err := buildID(repo, file, branch)
+	newResourceID, err := buildID(repo, escapeIDPart(file), branch)
 	if err != nil {
 		return diag.FromErr(err)
 	}
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ func resourceGithubRepositoryFileUpdate(ctx context.Context, d *schema.ResourceD
 	}
 
 	if d.HasChanges("repository", "file", "branch") {
-		newResourceID, err := buildID(repo, file, branch)
+		newResourceID, err := buildID(repo, escapeIDPart(file), branch)
 		if err != nil {
 			return diag.FromErr(err)
 		}
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ func resourceGithubRepositoryFileImport(ctx context.Context, d *schema.ResourceD
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	newResourceID, err := buildID(repo, filePath, branch)
+	newResourceID, err := buildID(repo, escapeIDPart(filePath), branch)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/github/resource_github_repository_file_test.go b/github/resource_github_repository_file_test.go
index 57343b6dd8..ed778fcab2 100644
--- a/github/resource_github_repository_file_test.go
+++ b/github/resource_github_repository_file_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-testing/helper/acctest"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-testing/helper/resource"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-testing/knownvalue"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-testing/statecheck"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-testing/tfjsonpath"
 )
 
 func TestAccGithubRepositoryFile(t *testing.T) {
@@ -455,4 +458,47 @@ func TestAccGithubRepositoryFile(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		})
 	})
+
+	t.Run("verify_that_id_can_contain_colon_in_file_path", func(t *testing.T) {
+		randomID := acctest.RandString(5)
+		repoName := fmt.Sprintf("%srepo-file-%s", testResourcePrefix, randomID)
+		filePathWithColon := "repro/example:one.yaml"
+		config := fmt.Sprintf(`
+
+			resource "github_repository" "test" {
+				name                 = "%s"
+				auto_init            = true
+				vulnerability_alerts = true
+			}
+
+			resource "github_repository_file" "test" {
+				repository     = github_repository.test.name
+				branch         = "main"
+				file           = "%s"
+				content        = "bar"
+				commit_message = "Managed by Terraform"
+				commit_author  = "Terraform User"
+				commit_email   = "terraform@example.com"
+			}
+		`, repoName, filePathWithColon)
+
+		resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+			PreCheck:          func() { skipUnauthenticated(t) },
+			ProviderFactories: providerFactories,
+			Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+				{
+					Config: config,
+					ConfigStateChecks: []statecheck.StateCheck{
+						statecheck.ExpectKnownValue("github_repository_file.test", tfjsonpath.New("id"), knownvalue.StringFunc(func(v string) error {
+							if strings.Contains(v, escapeIDPart(filePathWithColon)) {
+								return nil
+							}
+							return fmt.Errorf("expected id to contain escaped file path, got: %s", v)
+						})),
+						statecheck.ExpectKnownValue("github_repository_file.test", tfjsonpath.New("file"), knownvalue.StringExact(filePathWithColon)),
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		})
+	})
 }