diff --git a/airflow/providers/sftp/sensors/sftp.py b/airflow/providers/sftp/sensors/sftp.py
index 02055f31e3f819..de3870937d43b2 100644
--- a/airflow/providers/sftp/sensors/sftp.py
+++ b/airflow/providers/sftp/sensors/sftp.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 from airflow.providers.sftp.hooks.sftp import SFTPHook
 from airflow.providers.sftp.triggers.sftp import SFTPTrigger
 from airflow.sensors.base import BaseSensorOperator, PokeReturnValue
-from airflow.utils.timezone import convert_to_utc
+from airflow.utils.timezone import convert_to_utc, parse
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from airflow.utils.context import Context
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def __init__(
         *,
         path: str,
         file_pattern: str = "",
-        newer_than: datetime | None = None,
+        newer_than: datetime | str | None = None,
         sftp_conn_id: str = "sftp_default",
         python_callable: Callable | None = None,
         op_args: list | None = None,
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.file_pattern = file_pattern
         self.hook: SFTPHook | None = None
         self.sftp_conn_id = sftp_conn_id
-        self.newer_than: datetime | None = newer_than
+        self.newer_than: datetime | str | None = newer_than
         self.python_callable: Callable | None = python_callable
         self.op_args = op_args or []
         self.op_kwargs = op_kwargs or {}
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ def poke(self, context: Context) -> PokeReturnValue | bool:
                 continue
 
             if self.newer_than:
+                if isinstance(self.newer_than, str):
+                    self.newer_than = parse(self.newer_than)
                 _mod_time = convert_to_utc(datetime.strptime(mod_time, "%Y%m%d%H%M%S"))
                 _newer_than = convert_to_utc(self.newer_than)
                 if _newer_than <= _mod_time:
diff --git a/tests/providers/sftp/sensors/test_sftp.py b/tests/providers/sftp/sensors/test_sftp.py
index 6a08b377ce80f6..25add45e153fb8 100644
--- a/tests/providers/sftp/sensors/test_sftp.py
+++ b/tests/providers/sftp/sensors/test_sftp.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # under the License.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from datetime import datetime
+from datetime import datetime, timezone as stdlib_timezone
 from unittest import mock
 from unittest.mock import Mock, call, patch
 
@@ -97,11 +97,25 @@ def test_file_not_new_enough(self, sftp_hook_mock):
         sftp_hook_mock.return_value.get_mod_time.assert_called_once_with("/path/to/file/1970-01-01.txt")
         assert not output
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "newer_than",
+        (
+            datetime(2020, 1, 2),
+            datetime(2020, 1, 2, tzinfo=stdlib_timezone.utc),
+            "2020-01-02",
+            "2020-01-02 00:00:00+00:00",
+            "2020-01-02 00:00:00.001+00:00",
+            "2020-01-02T00:00:00+00:00",
+            "2020-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+            "2020-01-02T00:00:00+04:00",
+            "2020-01-02T00:00:00.000001+04:00",
+        ),
+    )
     @patch("airflow.providers.sftp.sensors.sftp.SFTPHook")
-    def test_naive_datetime(self, sftp_hook_mock):
+    def test_multiple_datetime_format_in_newer_than(self, sftp_hook_mock, newer_than):
         sftp_hook_mock.return_value.get_mod_time.return_value = "19700101000000"
         sftp_sensor = SFTPSensor(
-            task_id="unit_test", path="/path/to/file/1970-01-01.txt", newer_than=datetime(2020, 1, 2)
+            task_id="unit_test", path="/path/to/file/1970-01-01.txt", newer_than=newer_than
         )
         context = {"ds": "1970-01-00"}
         output = sftp_sensor.poke(context)