diff --git a/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory.go b/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory.go
index 10be41a71..f0d8f4962 100644
--- a/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory.go
+++ b/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -139,10 +140,27 @@ func addKvToConfigMap(configMap *v1.ConfigMap, keyName, data string) error {
 	if errs := validation.IsConfigMapKey(keyName); len(errs) != 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a valid key name for a ConfigMap: %s", keyName, strings.Join(errs, ";"))
 	}
-	if _, entryExists := configMap.Data[keyName]; entryExists {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot add key %s, another key by that name already exists: %v", keyName, configMap.Data)
+
+	keyExistsErrorMsg := "cannot add key %s, another key by that name already exists: %v"
+
+	// If the configmap data contains byte sequences that are all in the UTF-8
+	// range, we will write it to .Data
+	if utf8.Valid([]byte(data)) {
+		if _, entryExists := configMap.Data[keyName]; entryExists {
+			return fmt.Errorf(keyExistsErrorMsg, keyName, configMap.Data)
+		}
+		configMap.Data[keyName] = data
+		return nil
 	}
-	configMap.Data[keyName] = data
+
+	// otherwise, it's BinaryData
+	if configMap.BinaryData == nil {
+		configMap.BinaryData = map[string][]byte{}
+	}
+	if _, entryExists := configMap.BinaryData[keyName]; entryExists {
+		return fmt.Errorf(keyExistsErrorMsg, keyName, configMap.BinaryData)
+	}
+	configMap.BinaryData[keyName] = []byte(data)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory_test.go b/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory_test.go
index d34a190ab..4e00aca55 100644
--- a/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory_test.go
+++ b/k8sdeps/configmapandsecret/configmapfactory_test.go
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ func makeFileConfigMap(name string) *corev1.ConfigMap {
 BAR=baz
 `,
 		},
+		BinaryData: map[string][]byte{
+			"app.bin": {0xff, 0xfd},
+		},
 	}
 }
 
@@ -105,7 +108,7 @@ func TestConstructConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 			input: types.ConfigMapArgs{
 				GeneratorArgs: types.GeneratorArgs{Name: "fileConfigMap"},
 				DataSources: types.DataSources{
-					FileSources: []string{"configmap/app-init.ini"},
+					FileSources: []string{"configmap/app-init.ini", "configmap/app.bin"},
 				},
 			},
 			options:  nil,
@@ -131,6 +134,7 @@ func TestConstructConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 	fSys := fs.MakeFakeFS()
 	fSys.WriteFile("/configmap/app.env", []byte("DB_USERNAME=admin\nDB_PASSWORD=somepw\n"))
 	fSys.WriteFile("/configmap/app-init.ini", []byte("FOO=bar\nBAR=baz\n"))
+	fSys.WriteFile("/configmap/app.bin", []byte{0xff, 0xfd})
 	f := NewConfigMapFactory(loader.NewFileLoaderAtRoot(fSys))
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
 		cm, err := f.MakeConfigMap(&tc.input, tc.options)