diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilder.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilder.java
index 97a7ec750be..14be584fe68 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilder.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilder.java
@@ -382,20 +382,28 @@ public class SpringApplicationBuilder {
 		return properties(getMapFromKeyValuePairs(defaultProperties));
 	}
 
-	private Map<String, Object> getMapFromKeyValuePairs(String[] args) {
+	private Map<String, Object> getMapFromKeyValuePairs(String[] properties) {
 		Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap<String, Object>();
-		for (String pair : args) {
-			int index = pair.indexOf(":");
-			if (index <= 0) {
-				index = pair.indexOf("=");
-			}
-			String key = pair.substring(0, index > 0 ? index : pair.length());
-			String value = index > 0 ? pair.substring(index + 1) : "";
+		for (String property : properties) {
+			int index = lowestIndexOf(property, ":", "=");
+			String key = property.substring(0, index > 0 ? index : property.length());
+			String value = index > 0 ? property.substring(index + 1) : "";
 			map.put(key, value);
 		}
 		return map;
 	}
 
+	private int lowestIndexOf(String property, String... candidates) {
+		int index = -1;
+		for (String candidate : candidates) {
+			int candidateIndex = property.indexOf(candidate);
+			if (candidateIndex > 0) {
+				index = (index == -1 ? candidateIndex : Math.min(index, candidateIndex));
+			}
+		}
+		return index;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Default properties for the environment in the form {@code key=value} or
 	 * {@code key:value}.
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilderTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilderTests.java
index 2aa5f7f9ac5..7faa991f63d 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilderTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/builder/SpringApplicationBuilderTests.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import org.springframework.context.ConfigurableApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 import org.springframework.context.support.StaticApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.core.env.ConfigurableEnvironment;
 import org.springframework.core.env.StandardEnvironment;
 import org.springframework.core.io.DefaultResourceLoader;
 import org.springframework.core.io.ResourceLoader;
@@ -93,6 +94,20 @@ public class SpringApplicationBuilderTests {
 		assertThat(this.context.getEnvironment().getProperty("bar")).isEqualTo("foo");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void propertiesWithRepeatSeparator() throws Exception {
+		SpringApplicationBuilder application = new SpringApplicationBuilder()
+				.sources(ExampleConfig.class).contextClass(StaticApplicationContext.class)
+				.properties("one=c:\\logging.file", "two=a:b", "three:c:\\logging.file",
+						"four:a:b");
+		this.context = application.run();
+		ConfigurableEnvironment environment = this.context.getEnvironment();
+		assertThat(environment.getProperty("one")).isEqualTo("c:\\logging.file");
+		assertThat(environment.getProperty("two")).isEqualTo("a:b");
+		assertThat(environment.getProperty("three")).isEqualTo("c:\\logging.file");
+		assertThat(environment.getProperty("four")).isEqualTo("a:b");
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void specificApplicationContextClass() throws Exception {
 		SpringApplicationBuilder application = new SpringApplicationBuilder()