diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66d2b080cd..4842dfff82 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
+## Unreleased
+
+### Fixed
+
+* Raise `ValueError` on `Response.encoding` being set after `Response.text` has been accessed. (#2852)
+
 ## 0.25.0 (11th Sep, 2023)
 
 ### Removed
diff --git a/httpx/_models.py b/httpx/_models.py
index e1e45cf06b..8a6bda04bb 100644
--- a/httpx/_models.py
+++ b/httpx/_models.py
@@ -603,6 +603,16 @@ def encoding(self) -> typing.Optional[str]:
 
     @encoding.setter
     def encoding(self, value: str) -> None:
+        """
+        Set the encoding to use for decoding the byte content into text.
+
+        If the `text` attribute has been accessed, attempting to set the
+        encoding will throw a ValueError.
+        """
+        if hasattr(self, "_text"):
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Setting encoding after `text` has been accessed is not allowed."
+            )
         self._encoding = value
 
     @property
diff --git a/tests/models/test_responses.py b/tests/models/test_responses.py
index 9e65de8154..9177773a50 100644
--- a/tests/models/test_responses.py
+++ b/tests/models/test_responses.py
@@ -298,6 +298,23 @@ def test_response_force_encoding():
     assert response.encoding == "iso-8859-1"
 
 
+def test_response_force_encoding_after_text_accessed():
+    response = httpx.Response(
+        200,
+        content=b"Hello, world!",
+    )
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert response.reason_phrase == "OK"
+    assert response.text == "Hello, world!"
+    assert response.encoding == "utf-8"
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        response.encoding = "UTF8"
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        response.encoding = "iso-8859-1"
+
+
 def test_read():
     response = httpx.Response(
         200,