diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/1472-saltstack-fix-put_file-to-preserve-checksum.yml b/changelogs/fragments/1472-saltstack-fix-put_file-to-preserve-checksum.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7db884a7f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/1472-saltstack-fix-put_file-to-preserve-checksum.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - saltstack connection plugin - use ``hashutil.base64_decodefile`` to ensure that the file checksum is preserved (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/1472).
diff --git a/plugins/connection/saltstack.py b/plugins/connection/saltstack.py
index 638b04e1b4..ac521e1143 100644
--- a/plugins/connection/saltstack.py
+++ b/plugins/connection/saltstack.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
 import re
 import os
 import pty
+import codecs
 import subprocess
 
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_bytes, to_text
@@ -85,9 +86,9 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
 
         out_path = self._normalize_path(out_path, '/')
         self._display.vvv("PUT %s TO %s" % (in_path, out_path), host=self.host)
-        with open(in_path) as in_fh:
+        with open(in_path, 'rb') as in_fh:
             content = in_fh.read()
-        self.client.cmd(self.host, 'file.write', [out_path, content])
+        self.client.cmd(self.host, 'hashutil.base64_decodefile', [codecs.encode(content, 'base64'), out_path])
 
     # TODO test it
     def fetch_file(self, in_path, out_path):