diff --git a/git_resource/README.md b/git_resource/README.md
index 444f88ace..d4f8b456c 100644
--- a/git_resource/README.md
+++ b/git_resource/README.md
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ git_resource(resource_name, path_or_repo, dockerfile='Dockerfile', namespace='de
 
 * `resource_name` ( str ) – the name to use for this resource
 * `path_or_repo` ( str ) – either the URL to the remote git repo, or the path to your local checkout.  
-If passing a repo url, a branch may be specified with a hash delimiter (i.e. `git@example.com/path/to/repo.git#myBranchNameHere`).  
+If passing a repo url, a branch may be specified with a hash delimiter (i.e. `git@example.com/path/to/repo.git#myBranchNameHere`).
+In case the branch name contains a `#` or a `@` you can escape them with the according URL encodings `%23` and `%40`, respectively.
 To use a tag, prefix the tag name with `tags/` (i.e. `git@example.com/path/to/repo.git#tags/v1.0.01`)  
 To use a specific revision/sha, prefix the sha with `@` (i.e. `git@example.com/path/to/repo.git@myRevisionSha`).  
 If no branch or revision is specified, defaults to `master`  
diff --git a/git_resource/Tiltfile b/git_resource/Tiltfile
index 78b821960..8224878a7 100644
--- a/git_resource/Tiltfile
+++ b/git_resource/Tiltfile
@@ -147,7 +147,11 @@ def _parse_repository_url(url):
 
     repository_name = os.path.basename(url).rstrip('.git')
 
-    return url, repository_name, tree
+    return url, repository_name, simple_url_decode(tree)
+
+# in case the branch name contains '#' or '@', these need to be escaped
+def simple_url_decode(tree):
+    return tree.replace('%23', '#').replace('%40', '@')
 
 
 def _get_default_checkout_target(repository_url):
diff --git a/git_resource/test/Tiltfile b/git_resource/test/Tiltfile
index 947064fd5..0422f51cd 100644
--- a/git_resource/test/Tiltfile
+++ b/git_resource/test/Tiltfile
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ url_test_cases = [
         url="git@example.com/path/to/repo.git",
         repo="repo",
         tree="#myBranchNameHere"),
+  _case(input='git@example.com/path/to/repo.git#myBranch%23Name%40Here',
+        url="git@example.com/path/to/repo.git",
+        repo="repo",
+        tree="#myBranch#Name@Here"),
   _case(input='https://user@example.com/path/repo.git',
         url='https://user@example.com/path/repo.git',
         repo='repo',
@@ -39,6 +43,10 @@ url_test_cases = [
         url='https://user@example.com/path/repo.git',
         repo='repo',
         tree='@myRevisionSha'),
+  _case(input='https://user@example.com/path/repo.git@my%23Revision%40Sha',
+        url='https://user@example.com/path/repo.git',
+        repo='repo',
+        tree='@my#Revision@Sha'),
 ]
 
 if os.name == 'nt':