diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/BuildpackReference.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/BuildpackReference.java
index a9059fd71ad..ebbf7da1327 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/BuildpackReference.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/BuildpackReference.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2021 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2024 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package org.springframework.boot.buildpack.platform.build;
 
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
@@ -51,11 +52,11 @@ public final class BuildpackReference {
 		try {
 			URL url = new URL(this.value);
 			if (url.getProtocol().equals("file")) {
-				return Paths.get(url.getPath());
+				return Paths.get(url.toURI());
 			}
 			return null;
 		}
-		catch (MalformedURLException ex) {
+		catch (MalformedURLException | URISyntaxException ex) {
 			// not a URL, fall through to attempting to find a plain file path
 		}
 		try {
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/TarGzipBuildpackTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/TarGzipBuildpackTests.java
index 561d370719e..a7ceb835eb7 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/TarGzipBuildpackTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-buildpack-platform/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/buildpack/platform/build/TarGzipBuildpackTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2023 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2024 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@ class TarGzipBuildpackTests {
 	@Test
 	void resolveWhenFileUrlReturnsBuildpack() throws Exception {
 		Path compressedArchive = this.testTarGzip.createArchive();
-		BuildpackReference reference = BuildpackReference.of("file://" + compressedArchive.toString());
+		BuildpackReference reference = BuildpackReference.of(compressedArchive.toUri().toString());
 		Buildpack buildpack = TarGzipBuildpack.resolve(this.resolverContext, reference);
-		assertThat(buildpack).isNotNull();
+		assertThat(buildpack).as("Buildpack %s resolved from reference %s", buildpack, reference).isNotNull();
 		assertThat(buildpack.getCoordinates()).hasToString("example/buildpack1@0.0.1");
 		this.testTarGzip.assertHasExpectedLayers(buildpack);
 	}