diff --git a/readability/encoding.py b/readability/encoding.py
index a72c34d..fb4761d 100644
--- a/readability/encoding.py
+++ b/readability/encoding.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def get_encoding(page):
     if not text.strip() or len(text) < 10:
         return enc # can't guess
     res = chardet.detect(text)
-    enc = res['encoding']
+    enc = res['encoding'] or 'utf-8'
     #print '->', enc, "%.2f" % res['confidence']
     enc = custom_decode(enc)
     return enc
@@ -45,4 +45,4 @@ def custom_decode(encoding):
     if encoding in alternates:
         return alternates[encoding]
     else:
-        return encoding
\ No newline at end of file
+        return encoding