diff --git a/pkg/sources/github/github.go b/pkg/sources/github/github.go
index a6eba956e7c7..e201bb5bcc6b 100644
--- a/pkg/sources/github/github.go
+++ b/pkg/sources/github/github.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
 	"github.com/gobwas/glob"
 	"github.com/google/go-github/v63/github"
+	"github.com/trufflesecurity/trufflehog/v3/pkg/handlers"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/rand"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
@@ -1392,35 +1393,34 @@ func (s *Source) scanTarget(ctx context.Context, target sources.ChunkingTarget,
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid GitHub URL")
 	}
 
-	qry := commitQuery{
-		repo:     segments[2],
-		owner:    segments[1],
-		sha:      meta.GetCommit(),
-		filename: meta.GetFile(),
+	readCloser, resp, err := s.connector.APIClient().Repositories.DownloadContents(
+		ctx,
+		segments[1],
+		segments[2],
+		meta.GetFile(),
+		&github.RepositoryContentGetOptions{Ref: meta.GetCommit()})
+	// As of this writing, if the returned readCloser is not nil, it's just the Body of the returned github.Response, so
+	// there's no need to independently close it.
+	if resp != nil && resp.Body != nil {
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
 	}
-	res, err := s.getDiffForFileInCommit(ctx, qry)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not download file for scan: %w", err)
+	}
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected HTTP response status when trying to download file for scan: %v", resp.Status)
 	}
-	chunk := &sources.Chunk{
+
+	reporter := sources.ChanReporter{Ch: chunksChan}
+	chunkSkel := sources.Chunk{
 		SourceType: s.Type(),
 		SourceName: s.name,
 		SourceID:   s.SourceID(),
 		JobID:      s.JobID(),
 		SecretID:   target.SecretID,
-		Data:       []byte(stripLeadingPlusMinus(res)),
 		SourceMetadata: &source_metadatapb.MetaData{
 			Data: &source_metadatapb.MetaData_Github{Github: meta},
 		},
-		Verify: s.verify,
-	}
-
-	return common.CancellableWrite(ctx, chunksChan, chunk)
-}
-
-// stripLeadingPlusMinus removes leading + and - characters from lines in a diff string. These characters exist in the
-// diffs returned when performing a targeted scan and need to be removed so that detectors are operating on the correct
-// text.
-func stripLeadingPlusMinus(diff string) string {
-	return strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(diff, "\n+", "\n"), "\n-", "\n")
+		Verify: s.verify}
+	return handlers.HandleFile(ctx, readCloser, &chunkSkel, reporter)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/sources/github/github_integration_test.go b/pkg/sources/github/github_integration_test.go
index cfc6fe01703b..9fff037c321b 100644
--- a/pkg/sources/github/github_integration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/sources/github/github_integration_test.go
@@ -758,6 +758,24 @@ func TestSource_Chunks_TargetedScan(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantChunks: 1,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "targeted scan, binary file",
+			init: init{
+				name:       "test source",
+				connection: &sourcespb.GitHub{Credential: &sourcespb.GitHub_Token{Token: githubToken}},
+				queryCriteria: &source_metadatapb.MetaData{
+					Data: &source_metadatapb.MetaData_Github{
+						Github: &source_metadatapb.Github{
+							Repository: "https://github.com/truffle-sandbox/test-secrets.git",
+							Link:       "https://github.com/truffle-sandbox/test-secrets/blob/70bef8590f87257c0992eecc7db529827a12b801/null_text_w_ptp.ipynb",
+							Commit:     "70bef8590f87257c0992eecc7db529827a12b801",
+							File:       "null_text_w_ptp.ipynb",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			wantChunks: 607,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "no file in commit",
 			init: init{
diff --git a/pkg/sources/github/repo.go b/pkg/sources/github/repo.go
index 67e7728816c7..79be8653ffcb 100644
--- a/pkg/sources/github/repo.go
+++ b/pkg/sources/github/repo.go
@@ -281,60 +281,6 @@ func (s *Source) wikiIsReachable(ctx context.Context, repoURL string) bool {
 	return wikiURL == res.Request.URL.String()
 }
 
-// commitQuery represents the details required to fetch a commit.
-type commitQuery struct {
-	repo     string
-	owner    string
-	sha      string
-	filename string
-}
-
-// getDiffForFileInCommit retrieves the diff for a specified file in a commit.
-// If the file or its diff is not found, it returns an error.
-func (s *Source) getDiffForFileInCommit(ctx context.Context, query commitQuery) (string, error) {
-	var (
-		commit *github.RepositoryCommit
-		err    error
-	)
-	for {
-		commit, _, err = s.connector.APIClient().Repositories.GetCommit(ctx, query.owner, query.repo, query.sha, nil)
-		if s.handleRateLimit(err) {
-			continue
-		}
-		if err != nil {
-			return "", fmt.Errorf("error fetching commit %s: %w", query.sha, err)
-		}
-		break
-	}
-
-	if len(commit.Files) == 0 {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("commit %s does not contain any files", query.sha)
-	}
-
-	res := new(strings.Builder)
-	// Only return the diff if the file is in the commit.
-	for _, file := range commit.Files {
-		if *file.Filename != query.filename {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if file.Patch == nil {
-			return "", fmt.Errorf("commit %s file %s does not have a diff", query.sha, query.filename)
-		}
-
-		if _, err := res.WriteString(*file.Patch); err != nil {
-			return "", fmt.Errorf("buffer write error for commit %s file %s: %w", query.sha, query.filename, err)
-		}
-		res.WriteString("\n")
-	}
-
-	if res.Len() == 0 {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("commit %s does not contain patch for file %s", query.sha, query.filename)
-	}
-
-	return res.String(), nil
-}
-
 func (s *Source) normalizeRepo(repo string) (string, error) {
 	// If there's a '/', assume it's a URL and try to normalize it.
 	if strings.ContainsRune(repo, '/') {