diff --git a/lib/fs.js b/lib/fs.js
index 75f5112bd28..d5d1a2050ac 100644
--- a/lib/fs.js
+++ b/lib/fs.js
@@ -515,6 +515,9 @@ var FileReadStream = fs.FileReadStream = function(path, options) {
 };
 sys.inherits(FileReadStream, events.EventEmitter);
 
+FileReadStream.prototype.setEncoding = function(encoding) {
+  this.encoding = encoding;
+};
 
 FileReadStream.prototype._read = function () {
   var self = this;