diff --git a/solrorbit/utils/opts.py b/solrorbit/utils/opts.py
index e45fe637..9bf52f35 100644
--- a/solrorbit/utils/opts.py
+++ b/solrorbit/utils/opts.py
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ def convert(v):
 
     result = {}
     for kv in kvs:
-        k, v = kv.split(":")
+        k, v = kv.split(":", 1)
         # key is always considered a string, value needs to be converted
         result[k.strip()] = convert(v.strip())
     return result
diff --git a/tests/utils/opts_test.py b/tests/utils/opts_test.py
index 7e3466da..d0f9e525 100644
--- a/tests/utils/opts_test.py
+++ b/tests/utils/opts_test.py
@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ def test_kv_to_map(self):
         self.assertEqual({"k": "v", "size": 4, "empty": False, "temperature": 0.5},
                          opts.kv_to_map(["k:'v'", "size:4", "empty:false", "temperature:0.5"]))
 
+    def test_kv_to_map_value_contains_colon(self):
+        # only the first colon separates key and value; URLs, passwords and times keep theirs
+        self.assertEqual({"source": "http://mirror:8080/docs.json"}, opts.kv_to_map(["source:'http://mirror:8080/docs.json'"]))
+        self.assertEqual({"basic_auth_password": "s3:cr3t"}, opts.kv_to_map(["basic_auth_password:s3:cr3t"]))
+        self.assertEqual({"bulk_size": 100, "start": "12:30"}, opts.to_dict("bulk_size:100,start:'12:30'"))
+
 
 class GenericHelperFunctionTests(TestCase):
     def test_list_as_bulleted_list(self):