diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e0506f31..a00a1647 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 -   fix new ktlint errors that come from our new default version of ktlint [#651](https://github.com/JLLeitschuh/ktlint-gradle/pull/651)
 -   fix syntax bug in release logic for VERSION_LATEST_RELEASE.txt [#651](https://github.com/JLLeitschuh/ktlint-gradle/pull/651)
+-   fix the pre-commit hook to cope with unstaged binary files [#603](https://github.com/JLLeitschuh/ktlint-gradle/pull/603)
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jlleitschuh/gradle/ktlint/GitHook.kt b/plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jlleitschuh/gradle/ktlint/GitHook.kt
index 607874ae..00f3878a 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jlleitschuh/gradle/ktlint/GitHook.kt
+++ b/plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jlleitschuh/gradle/ktlint/GitHook.kt
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ internal fun generateGitHook(
     echo "${'$'}CHANGED_FILES"
 
     diff=.git/unstaged-ktlint-git-hook.diff
-    git diff --color=never > ${'$'}diff
+    git diff --binary --color=never > ${'$'}diff
     if [ -s ${'$'}diff ]; then
       git apply -R ${'$'}diff
     fi