diff --git a/lib/fs.js b/lib/fs.js
index adaf5a4281..7c8b38c05a 100644
--- a/lib/fs.js
+++ b/lib/fs.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ fs.readFile = function (path, encoding_, callback) {
       function doRead() {
         if (size < 1) {
           binding.close(fd);
-          callback(null, buffer);
+          callback(null, encoding ? '' : buffer);
           return;
         }
         // position is offset or null so we can read files on unseekable mediums
diff --git a/test/simple/test-fs-readfile-empty.js b/test/simple/test-fs-readfile-empty.js
index 770d5e4e67..7b3ab1f2dd 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-fs-readfile-empty.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-fs-readfile-empty.js
@@ -9,3 +9,7 @@ var
 fs.readFile(fn, function(err, data) {
   assert.ok(data);
 });
+
+fs.readFile(fn, 'utf8', function(err, data) {
+  assert.strictEqual('', data);
+});
\ No newline at end of file