diff --git a/pandas/core/arrays/categorical.py b/pandas/core/arrays/categorical.py
index 0c9db271edf37..9cdb5dfc47776 100644
--- a/pandas/core/arrays/categorical.py
+++ b/pandas/core/arrays/categorical.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 from pandas.core.dtypes.dtypes import CategoricalDtype
 from pandas.core.dtypes.generic import ABCIndexClass, ABCSeries
 from pandas.core.dtypes.inference import is_hashable
-from pandas.core.dtypes.missing import isna, notna
+from pandas.core.dtypes.missing import is_valid_nat_for_dtype, isna, notna
 
 from pandas.core import ops
 from pandas.core.accessor import PandasDelegate, delegate_names
@@ -1834,7 +1834,7 @@ def __contains__(self, key) -> bool:
         Returns True if `key` is in this Categorical.
         """
         # if key is a NaN, check if any NaN is in self.
-        if is_scalar(key) and isna(key):
+        if is_valid_nat_for_dtype(key, self.categories.dtype):
             return self.isna().any()
 
         return contains(self, key, container=self._codes)
diff --git a/pandas/core/indexes/category.py b/pandas/core/indexes/category.py
index 0cf6698d316bb..80d3e5c8a0dbe 100644
--- a/pandas/core/indexes/category.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/category.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     is_scalar,
 )
 from pandas.core.dtypes.dtypes import CategoricalDtype
-from pandas.core.dtypes.missing import isna
+from pandas.core.dtypes.missing import is_valid_nat_for_dtype, isna
 
 from pandas.core import accessor
 from pandas.core.algorithms import take_1d
@@ -365,10 +365,9 @@ def _has_complex_internals(self) -> bool:
     @doc(Index.__contains__)
     def __contains__(self, key: Any) -> bool:
         # if key is a NaN, check if any NaN is in self.
-        if is_scalar(key) and isna(key):
+        if is_valid_nat_for_dtype(key, self.categories.dtype):
             return self.hasnans
 
-        hash(key)
         return contains(self, key, container=self._engine)
 
     @doc(Index.astype)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/categorical/test_indexing.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/categorical/test_indexing.py
index a36568bbbe633..9cf901c0797d8 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/categorical/test_indexing.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/categorical/test_indexing.py
@@ -285,6 +285,43 @@ def test_contains_nan(self):
         ci = CategoricalIndex(list("aabbca") + [np.nan], categories=list("cabdef"))
         assert np.nan in ci
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("unwrap", [True, False])
+    def test_contains_na_dtype(self, unwrap):
+        dti = pd.date_range("2016-01-01", periods=100).insert(0, pd.NaT)
+        pi = dti.to_period("D")
+        tdi = dti - dti[-1]
+        ci = CategoricalIndex(dti)
+
+        obj = ci
+        if unwrap:
+            obj = ci._data
+
+        assert np.nan in obj
+        assert None in obj
+        assert pd.NaT in obj
+        assert np.datetime64("NaT") in obj
+        assert np.timedelta64("NaT") not in obj
+
+        obj2 = CategoricalIndex(tdi)
+        if unwrap:
+            obj2 = obj2._data
+
+        assert np.nan in obj2
+        assert None in obj2
+        assert pd.NaT in obj2
+        assert np.datetime64("NaT") not in obj2
+        assert np.timedelta64("NaT") in obj2
+
+        obj3 = CategoricalIndex(pi)
+        if unwrap:
+            obj3 = obj3._data
+
+        assert np.nan in obj3
+        assert None in obj3
+        assert pd.NaT in obj3
+        assert np.datetime64("NaT") not in obj3
+        assert np.timedelta64("NaT") not in obj3
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "item, expected",
         [