diff --git a/lib/http.js b/lib/http.js
index b4fc2add11..ac6b1c6bf7 100644
--- a/lib/http.js
+++ b/lib/http.js
@@ -772,15 +772,18 @@ OutgoingMessage.prototype.write = function(chunk, encoding) {
 
   var len, ret;
   if (this.chunkedEncoding) {
-    if (typeof(chunk) === 'string') {
+    if (typeof(chunk) === 'string' &&
+        encoding !== 'hex' &&
+        encoding !== 'base64' &&
+        encoding !== 'binary') {
       len = Buffer.byteLength(chunk, encoding);
       chunk = len.toString(16) + CRLF + chunk + CRLF;
       ret = this._send(chunk, encoding);
     } else {
-      // buffer
+      // buffer, or a non-toString-friendly encoding
       len = chunk.length;
       this._send(len.toString(16) + CRLF);
-      this._send(chunk);
+      this._send(chunk, encoding);
       ret = this._send(CRLF);
     }
   } else {
diff --git a/test/simple/test-http-byteswritten.js b/test/simple/test-http-byteswritten.js
index fc090b17dc..160ea4d76e 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-http-byteswritten.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-http-byteswritten.js
@@ -35,10 +35,12 @@ var httpServer = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
   });
   res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
 
-  // Write 1mb to cause some requests to buffer
-  var chunk = new Array(1024).join('A');
+  // Write 1.5mb to cause some requests to buffer
+  // Also, mix up the encodings a bit.
+  var chunk = new Array(1024 + 1).join('7');
   for (var i = 0; i < 1024; i++) {
     res.write(chunk);
+    res.write(chunk, 'hex');
   }
   // Get .bytesWritten while buffer is not empty
   assert(res.connection.bytesWritten > 0);