diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d033aeb96..21e6d79dc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -766,7 +766,7 @@ The first argument can be either a `url` or an `options` object. The only requir
 
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-- `encoding` - Encoding to be used on `setEncoding` of response data. If `null`, the `body` is returned as a `Buffer`. Anything else **(including the default value of `undefined`)** will be passed as the [encoding](http://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_buffer) parameter to `toString()` (meaning this is effectively `utf8` by default).
+- `encoding` - Encoding to be used on `setEncoding` of response data. If `null`, the `body` is returned as a `Buffer`. Anything else **(including the default value of `undefined`)** will be passed as the [encoding](http://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_buffer) parameter to `toString()` (meaning this is effectively `utf8` by default). (**Note:** if you expect binary data, you should set `encoding: null`.)
 - `gzip` - If `true`, add an `Accept-Encoding` header to request compressed content encodings from the server (if not already present) and decode supported content encodings in the response.  **Note:** Automatic decoding of the response content is performed on the body data returned through `request` (both through the `request` stream and passed to the callback function) but is not performed on the `response` stream (available from the `response` event) which is the unmodified `http.IncomingMessage` object which may contain compressed data. See example below.
 - `jar` - If `true` and `tough-cookie` is installed, remember cookies for future use (or define your custom cookie jar; see examples section)