diff --git a/changelog/63102.fixed.md b/changelog/63102.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..535e1a6c804
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/63102.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+file.replace and file.search work properly with /proc files
diff --git a/salt/modules/file.py b/salt/modules/file.py
index e7514091363..e2d2eabaae0 100644
--- a/salt/modules/file.py
+++ b/salt/modules/file.py
@@ -2539,7 +2539,7 @@ def replace(
                 r_data = mmap.mmap(r_file.fileno(), 0, access=mmap.ACCESS_READ)
             except (ValueError, OSError):
                 # size of file in /proc is 0, but contains data
-                r_data = salt.utils.stringutils.to_bytes("".join(r_file))
+                r_data = b"".join(r_file)
             if search_only:
                 # Just search; bail as early as a match is found
                 if re.search(cpattern, r_data):
diff --git a/tests/pytests/unit/modules/file/test_file_block_replace.py b/tests/pytests/unit/modules/file/test_file_block_replace.py
index 8a05154f41c..8cc9b818b51 100644
--- a/tests/pytests/unit/modules/file/test_file_block_replace.py
+++ b/tests/pytests/unit/modules/file/test_file_block_replace.py
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ def configure_loader_modules():
             "__grains__": grains,
             "__utils__": {
                 "files.is_binary": MagicMock(return_value=False),
+                "files.is_text": salt.utils.files.is_text,
                 "files.get_encoding": MagicMock(return_value="utf-8"),
                 "stringutils.get_diff": salt.utils.stringutils.get_diff,
             },
@@ -546,3 +547,17 @@ def test_unfinished_block_exception(multiline_file):
             content="foobar",
             backup=False,
         )
+
+
+def test_search_proc_file():
+    """
+    Test that searching content in a /proc file does not raise a TypeError
+    and handles bytes correctly.
+    """
+    proc_file_path = "/proc/cpuinfo"
+
+    if not os.path.exists(proc_file_path):
+        pytest.skip(f"{proc_file_path} not available")
+
+    match_found = filemod.search(proc_file_path, "processor")
+    assert match_found, "Failed to find 'processor' in /proc/cpuinfo"