diff --git a/test/parallel/test-fs-read-file-assert-encoding.js b/test/parallel/test-fs-read-file-assert-encoding.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..897bcd3bc98795
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-fs-read-file-assert-encoding.js
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+'use strict';
+require('../common');
+
+const assert = require('assert');
+const fs = require('fs');
+
+const encoding = 'foo-8';
+const filename = 'bar.txt';
+
+assert.throws(
+  fs.readFile.bind(fs, filename, { encoding }, () => {}),
+  new RegExp(`Error: Unknown encoding: ${encoding}$`)
+);