diff --git a/github/data_source_github_repository_file.go b/github/data_source_github_repository_file.go
index d2d8a4a59e..c9ad137c3f 100644
--- a/github/data_source_github_repository_file.go
+++ b/github/data_source_github_repository_file.go
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func dataSourceGithubRepositoryFileRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}
 		opts.Ref = branch.(string)
 	}
 
-	fc, _, _, err := client.Repositories.GetContents(ctx, owner, repo, file, opts)
+	fc, dc, _, err := client.Repositories.GetContents(ctx, owner, repo, file, opts)
 	if err != nil {
 		if err, ok := err.(*github.ErrorResponse); ok {
 			if err.Response.StatusCode == http.StatusNotFound {
@@ -107,15 +107,22 @@ func dataSourceGithubRepositoryFileRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}
 		return err
 	}
 
+	d.Set("repository", repo)
+	d.SetId(fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", repo, file))
+	d.Set("file", file)
+
+	// If the repo is a directory, then there is nothing else we can include in
+	// the schema.
+	if dc != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	content, err := fc.GetContent()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	d.SetId(fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", repo, file))
 	d.Set("content", content)
-	d.Set("repository", repo)
-	d.Set("file", file)
 	d.Set("sha", fc.GetSHA())
 
 	parsedUrl, err := url.Parse(fc.GetURL())
diff --git a/github/data_source_github_repository_file_test.go b/github/data_source_github_repository_file_test.go
index 8fffb1fbfe..edd5c3adec 100644
--- a/github/data_source_github_repository_file_test.go
+++ b/github/data_source_github_repository_file_test.go
@@ -420,4 +420,68 @@ func TestDataSourceGithubRepositoryFileRead(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 
 	})
+
+	repoContentDirectoryRespBody := marshal(t, []github.RepositoryContent{
+		{
+			Encoding: &enc,
+			Content:  &b64FileContent,
+			SHA:      &sha,
+			URL:      &apiUrl,
+		},
+	})
+
+	t.Run("extract only non-file data if the path is for a directory", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// test setup
+		repositoryFullName := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", org, repo)
+
+		expectedID := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", repo, fileName)
+		expectedRepo := "test-repo"
+
+		ts := githubApiMock([]*mockResponse{
+			{
+				ExpectedUri:  fmt.Sprintf("/repos/%s/%s/contents/%s?ref=%s", org, repo, fileName, branch),
+				ResponseBody: repoContentDirectoryRespBody,
+				StatusCode:   http.StatusOK,
+			},
+		})
+		defer ts.Close()
+
+		httpCl := http.DefaultClient
+		httpCl.Transport = http.DefaultTransport
+
+		client := github.NewClient(httpCl)
+		u, _ := url.Parse(ts.URL + "/")
+		client.BaseURL = u
+
+		meta := &Owner{
+			name:     owner,
+			v3client: client,
+		}
+
+		testSchema := map[string]*schema.Schema{
+			"repository": {Type: schema.TypeString},
+			"file":       {Type: schema.TypeString},
+			"branch":     {Type: schema.TypeString},
+			"commit_sha": {Type: schema.TypeString},
+			"content":    {Type: schema.TypeString},
+			"id":         {Type: schema.TypeString},
+		}
+
+		schema := schema.TestResourceDataRaw(t, testSchema, map[string]interface{}{
+			"repository": repositoryFullName,
+			"file":       fileName,
+			"branch":     branch,
+			"commit_sha": sha,
+		})
+
+		// actual call
+		err := dataSourceGithubRepositoryFileRead(schema, meta)
+
+		// assertions
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, expectedRepo, schema.Get("repository"))
+		assert.Equal(t, expectedID, schema.Get("id"))
+		assert.Equal(t, "", schema.Get("content"))
+		assert.Equal(t, nil, schema.Get("sha"))
+	})
 }