diff --git a/.changelog/32169.txt b/.changelog/32169.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2abe2d405d20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/32169.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+resource/aws_api_gateway_rest_api: Fix crash when `binary_media_types` is `null`
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/service/apigateway/rest_api.go b/internal/service/apigateway/rest_api.go
index d64f9b68981c..bca2efcdbf49 100644
--- a/internal/service/apigateway/rest_api.go
+++ b/internal/service/apigateway/rest_api.go
@@ -395,19 +395,23 @@ func resourceRestAPIUpdate(ctx context.Context, d *schema.ResourceData, meta int
 			// Remove every binary media types. Simpler to remove and add new ones,
 			// since there are no replacings.
 			for _, v := range old {
-				operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
-					Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpRemove),
-					Path: aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("/%s/%s", prefix, escapeJSONPointer(v.(string)))),
-				})
+				if e, ok := v.(string); ok {
+					operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
+						Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpRemove),
+						Path: aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("/%s/%s", prefix, escapeJSONPointer(e))),
+					})
+				}
 			}
 
 			// Handle additions
 			if len(new) > 0 {
 				for _, v := range new {
-					operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
-						Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpAdd),
-						Path: aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("/%s/%s", prefix, escapeJSONPointer(v.(string)))),
-					})
+					if e, ok := v.(string); ok {
+						operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
+							Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpAdd),
+							Path: aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("/%s/%s", prefix, escapeJSONPointer(e))),
+						})
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -626,18 +630,22 @@ func resourceRestAPIWithBodyUpdateOperations(d *schema.ResourceData, output *api
 	}
 
 	if v, ok := d.GetOk("binary_media_types"); ok && len(v.([]interface{})) > 0 {
-		for _, elem := range aws.StringValueSlice(output.BinaryMediaTypes) {
-			operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
-				Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpRemove),
-				Path: aws.String("/binaryMediaTypes/" + escapeJSONPointer(elem)),
-			})
+		if len(output.BinaryMediaTypes) > 0 {
+			for _, elem := range aws.StringValueSlice(output.BinaryMediaTypes) {
+				operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
+					Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpRemove),
+					Path: aws.String("/binaryMediaTypes/" + escapeJSONPointer(elem)),
+				})
+			}
 		}
 
 		for _, elem := range v.([]interface{}) {
-			operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
-				Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpAdd),
-				Path: aws.String("/binaryMediaTypes/" + escapeJSONPointer(elem.(string))),
-			})
+			if el, ok := elem.(string); ok {
+				operations = append(operations, &apigateway.PatchOperation{
+					Op:   aws.String(apigateway.OpAdd),
+					Path: aws.String("/binaryMediaTypes/" + escapeJSONPointer(el)),
+				})
+			}
 		}
 	}