diff --git a/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee b/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
index 432502238..5f7c5fabf 100644
--- a/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
@@ -155,6 +155,25 @@ describe "TextEditor", ->
         expect(editor2.getSoftTabs()).toBe true
         expect(editor2.getEncoding()).toBe 'macroman'
 
+    it "uses scoped `core.fileEncoding` values", ->
+      editor1 = null
+      editor2 = null
+
+      atom.config.set('core.fileEncoding', 'utf16le')
+      atom.config.set('core.fileEncoding', 'macroman', scopeSelector: '.js')
+
+      waitsForPromise ->
+        atom.workspace.open('a').then (o) -> editor1 = o
+
+      runs ->
+        expect(editor1.getEncoding()).toBe 'utf16le'
+
+      waitsForPromise ->
+        atom.workspace.open('test.js').then (o) -> editor2 = o
+
+      runs ->
+        expect(editor2.getEncoding()).toBe 'macroman'
+
   describe "title", ->
     describe ".getTitle()", ->
       it "uses the basename of the buffer's path as its title, or 'untitled' if the path is undefined", ->
diff --git a/src/project.coffee b/src/project.coffee
index 2c5ca0291..8cee16fa2 100644
--- a/src/project.coffee
+++ b/src/project.coffee
@@ -280,7 +280,6 @@ class Project extends Model
   # Still needed when deserializing a tokenized buffer
   buildBufferSync: (absoluteFilePath) ->
     buffer = new TextBuffer({filePath: absoluteFilePath})
-    buffer.setEncoding(atom.config.get('core.fileEncoding'))
     @addBuffer(buffer)
     buffer.loadSync()
     buffer
@@ -298,7 +297,6 @@ class Project extends Model
       throw error
 
     buffer = new TextBuffer({filePath: absoluteFilePath})
-    buffer.setEncoding(atom.config.get('core.fileEncoding'))
     @addBuffer(buffer)
     buffer.load()
       .then((buffer) -> buffer)
diff --git a/src/text-editor.coffee b/src/text-editor.coffee
index 708baa099..88b43f005 100644
--- a/src/text-editor.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor.coffee
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ class TextEditor extends Model
 
     @languageMode = new LanguageMode(this)
 
+    @setEncoding(atom.config.get("core.fileEncoding", scope: @getRootScopeDescriptor() ))
+
     @subscribe @$scrollTop, (scrollTop) =>
       @emit 'scroll-top-changed', scrollTop
       @emitter.emit 'did-change-scroll-top', scrollTop