diff --git a/google/resource_bigquery_dataset.go b/google/resource_bigquery_dataset.go
index 73eb6c06..f21a3f55 100644
--- a/google/resource_bigquery_dataset.go
+++ b/google/resource_bigquery_dataset.go
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"regexp"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/validation"
 	"google.golang.org/api/bigquery/v2"
 )
 
+const datasetIdRegexp = `[0-9A-Za-z_]+`
+
 func resourceBigQueryDataset() *schema.Resource {
 	return &schema.Resource{
 		Create: resourceBigQueryDatasetCreate,
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ func resourceBigQueryDataset() *schema.Resource {
 				ForceNew: true,
 				ValidateFunc: func(v interface{}, k string) (ws []string, errors []error) {
 					value := v.(string)
-					if !regexp.MustCompile(`^[0-9A-Za-z_]+$`).MatchString(value) {
+					if !regexp.MustCompile(datasetIdRegexp).MatchString(value) {
 						errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf(
 							"%q must contain only letters (a-z, A-Z), numbers (0-9), or underscores (_)", k))
 					}
@@ -209,25 +210,22 @@ func resourceBigQueryDatasetCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) err
 	return resourceBigQueryDatasetRead(d, meta)
 }
 
-func resourceBigQueryDatasetParseID(id string) (string, string) {
-	// projectID, datasetID
-	parts := strings.Split(id, ":")
-	return parts[0], parts[1]
-}
-
 func resourceBigQueryDatasetRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 	config := meta.(*Config)
 
 	log.Printf("[INFO] Reading BigQuery dataset: %s", d.Id())
 
-	projectID, datasetID := resourceBigQueryDatasetParseID(d.Id())
-
-	res, err := config.clientBigQuery.Datasets.Get(projectID, datasetID).Do()
+	id, err := parseBigQueryDatasetId(d.Id())
 	if err != nil {
-		return handleNotFoundError(err, d, fmt.Sprintf("BigQuery dataset %q", datasetID))
+		return err
 	}
 
-	d.Set("project", projectID)
+	res, err := config.clientBigQuery.Datasets.Get(id.Project, id.DatasetId).Do()
+	if err != nil {
+		return handleNotFoundError(err, d, fmt.Sprintf("BigQuery dataset %q", id.DatasetId))
+	}
+
+	d.Set("project", id.Project)
 	d.Set("etag", res.Etag)
 	d.Set("labels", res.Labels)
 	d.Set("self_link", res.SelfLink)
@@ -260,9 +258,12 @@ func resourceBigQueryDatasetUpdate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) err
 
 	log.Printf("[INFO] Updating BigQuery dataset: %s", d.Id())
 
-	projectID, datasetID := resourceBigQueryDatasetParseID(d.Id())
+	id, err := parseBigQueryDatasetId(d.Id())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
-	if _, err = config.clientBigQuery.Datasets.Update(projectID, datasetID, dataset).Do(); err != nil {
+	if _, err = config.clientBigQuery.Datasets.Update(id.Project, id.DatasetId, dataset).Do(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -274,12 +275,32 @@ func resourceBigQueryDatasetDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) err
 
 	log.Printf("[INFO] Deleting BigQuery dataset: %s", d.Id())
 
-	projectID, datasetID := resourceBigQueryDatasetParseID(d.Id())
+	id, err := parseBigQueryDatasetId(d.Id())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
-	if err := config.clientBigQuery.Datasets.Delete(projectID, datasetID).Do(); err != nil {
+	if err := config.clientBigQuery.Datasets.Delete(id.Project, id.DatasetId).Do(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	d.SetId("")
 	return nil
 }
+
+type bigQueryDatasetId struct {
+	Project, DatasetId string
+}
+
+func parseBigQueryDatasetId(id string) (*bigQueryDatasetId, error) {
+	pd := fmt.Sprintf("(%s):(%s)", ProjectRegex, datasetIdRegexp)
+	re := regexp.MustCompile(pd)
+	if parts := re.FindStringSubmatch(id); parts != nil {
+		return &bigQueryDatasetId{
+			Project:   parts[1],
+			DatasetId: parts[2],
+		}, nil
+	}
+
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("Invalid BigQuery dataset specifier. Expecting {project}:{dataset-id}, got %s", id)
+}