diff --git a/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerRequestMapper.cs b/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerRequestMapper.cs
index 2b055175..1aaa7b9d 100644
--- a/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerRequestMapper.cs
+++ b/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerRequestMapper.cs
@@ -18,19 +18,19 @@ namespace WireMock
         /// <returns>The <see cref="RequestMessage"/>.</returns>
         public RequestMessage Map(HttpListenerRequest listenerRequest)
         {
-            Uri url = listenerRequest.Url;
-            string verb = listenerRequest.HttpMethod;
-            byte[] body = GetRequestBody(listenerRequest);
-            string bodyAsString = body != null ? listenerRequest.ContentEncoding.GetString(body) : null;
+            var url = listenerRequest.Url;
+            var verb = listenerRequest.HttpMethod;
+            var body = GetRequestBody(listenerRequest);
+            var bodyEncoding = body != null ? listenerRequest.ContentEncoding : null;
+            var bodyAsString = bodyEncoding?.GetString(body);
             var listenerHeaders = listenerRequest.Headers;
             var headers = listenerHeaders.AllKeys.ToDictionary(k => k, k => listenerHeaders[k]);
             var cookies = new Dictionary<string, string>();
+
             foreach (Cookie cookie in listenerRequest.Cookies)
                 cookies.Add(cookie.Name, cookie.Value);
 
-            var message = new RequestMessage(url, verb, body, bodyAsString, headers, cookies) { DateTime = DateTime.Now };
-
-            return message;
+            return new RequestMessage(url, verb, body, bodyAsString, bodyEncoding, headers, cookies) { DateTime = DateTime.Now };
         }
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerResponseMapper.cs b/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerResponseMapper.cs
index 6a0897b8..87dc9a27 100644
--- a/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerResponseMapper.cs
+++ b/src/WireMock.Net/HttpListenerResponseMapper.cs
@@ -24,14 +24,16 @@ namespace WireMock
 
             responseMessage.Headers.ToList().ForEach(pair => listenerResponse.AddHeader(pair.Key, pair.Value));
 
-            if (responseMessage.Body != null)
-            {
-                byte[] buffer = _utf8NoBom.GetBytes(responseMessage.Body);
-                listenerResponse.ContentEncoding = _utf8NoBom;
-                listenerResponse.ContentLength64 = buffer.Length;
-                listenerResponse.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
-                listenerResponse.OutputStream.Flush();
-            }
+            if (responseMessage.Body == null)
+                return;
+
+            var encoding = responseMessage.BodyEncoding ?? _utf8NoBom;
+            var buffer = encoding.GetBytes(responseMessage.Body);
+
+            listenerResponse.ContentEncoding = encoding;
+            listenerResponse.ContentLength64 = buffer.Length;
+            listenerResponse.OutputStream.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
+            listenerResponse.OutputStream.Flush();
         }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/WireMock.Net/RequestMessage.cs b/src/WireMock.Net/RequestMessage.cs
index b4f82ce7..3f6f4b3e 100644
--- a/src/WireMock.Net/RequestMessage.cs
+++ b/src/WireMock.Net/RequestMessage.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ using System.Linq;
 using JetBrains.Annotations;
 using WireMock.Util;
 using WireMock.Validation;
+using System.Text;
 
 namespace WireMock
 {
@@ -57,6 +58,11 @@ namespace WireMock
         /// </summary>
         public string Body { get; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the body encoding.
+        /// </summary>
+        public Encoding BodyEncoding { get; }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="RequestMessage"/> class.
         /// </summary>
@@ -64,9 +70,10 @@ namespace WireMock
         /// <param name="verb">The verb.</param>
         /// <param name="bodyAsBytes">The bodyAsBytes byte[].</param>
         /// <param name="body">The body string.</param>
+        /// <param name="bodyEncoding">The body encoding</param>
         /// <param name="headers">The headers.</param>
         /// <param name="cookies">The cookies.</param>
-        public RequestMessage([NotNull] Uri url, [NotNull] string verb, [CanBeNull] byte[] bodyAsBytes = null, [CanBeNull] string body = null, [CanBeNull] IDictionary<string, string> headers = null, [CanBeNull] IDictionary<string, string> cookies = null)
+        public RequestMessage([NotNull] Uri url, [NotNull] string verb, [CanBeNull] byte[] bodyAsBytes = null, [CanBeNull] string body = null, [CanBeNull] Encoding bodyEncoding = null, [CanBeNull] IDictionary<string, string> headers = null, [CanBeNull] IDictionary<string, string> cookies = null)
         {
             Check.NotNull(url, nameof(url));
             Check.NotNull(verb, nameof(verb));
@@ -76,6 +83,7 @@ namespace WireMock
             Method = verb.ToLower();
             BodyAsBytes = bodyAsBytes;
             Body = body;
+            BodyEncoding = bodyEncoding;
             Headers = headers;
             Cookies = cookies;
 
diff --git a/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/IBodyResponseBuilder.cs b/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/IBodyResponseBuilder.cs
index 8c589be4..4b4841af 100644
--- a/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/IBodyResponseBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/IBodyResponseBuilder.cs
@@ -12,15 +12,17 @@ namespace WireMock.ResponseBuilders
         /// The with body.
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="body">The body.</param>
+        /// <param name="encoding">The body encoding.</param>
         /// <returns>A <see cref="IResponseBuilder"/>.</returns>
-        IResponseBuilder WithBody([NotNull] string body);
+        IResponseBuilder WithBody([NotNull] string body, [CanBeNull] Encoding encoding = null);
 
         /// <summary>
         /// The with body.
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="body">The body.</param>
+        /// <param name="encoding">The body encoding.</param>
         /// <returns>A <see cref="IResponseBuilder"/>.</returns>
-        IResponseBuilder WithBodyAsJson([NotNull] object body);
+        IResponseBuilder WithBodyAsJson([NotNull] object body, [CanBeNull] Encoding encoding = null);
 
         /// <summary>
         /// The with body as base64.
diff --git a/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/Response.cs b/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/Response.cs
index 4209d0aa..2bf6c5ca 100644
--- a/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/Response.cs
+++ b/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseBuilders/Response.cs
@@ -143,12 +143,15 @@ namespace WireMock.ResponseBuilders
         /// The with body.
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="body">The body.</param>
+        /// <param name="encoding">The body encoding.</param>
         /// <returns>A <see cref="IResponseBuilder"/>.</returns>
-        public IResponseBuilder WithBody(string body)
+        public IResponseBuilder WithBody(string body, Encoding encoding = null)
         {
             Check.NotNull(body, nameof(body));
 
             ResponseMessage.Body = body;
+            ResponseMessage.BodyEncoding = encoding ?? Encoding.UTF8;
+
             return this;
         }
 
@@ -156,12 +159,22 @@ namespace WireMock.ResponseBuilders
         /// The with body (AsJson object).
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="body">The body.</param>
+        /// <param name="encoding">The body encoding.</param>
         /// <returns>A <see cref="IResponseBuilder"/>.</returns>
-        public IResponseBuilder WithBodyAsJson(object body)
+        public IResponseBuilder WithBodyAsJson(object body, Encoding encoding = null)
         {
             Check.NotNull(body, nameof(body));
 
-            ResponseMessage.Body = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(body, new JsonSerializerSettings { Formatting = Formatting.None, NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore });
+            var jsonBody = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(body, new JsonSerializerSettings { Formatting = Formatting.None, NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore });
+
+            if (encoding != null && !encoding.Equals(Encoding.UTF8))
+            {
+                jsonBody = encoding.GetString(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(jsonBody));
+                ResponseMessage.BodyEncoding = encoding;
+            }
+
+            ResponseMessage.Body = jsonBody;
+
             return this;
         }
 
@@ -175,7 +188,11 @@ namespace WireMock.ResponseBuilders
         {
             Check.NotNull(bodyAsbase64, nameof(bodyAsbase64));
 
-            ResponseMessage.Body = (encoding ?? Encoding.UTF8).GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(bodyAsbase64));
+            encoding = encoding ?? Encoding.UTF8;
+
+            ResponseMessage.Body = encoding.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(bodyAsbase64));
+            ResponseMessage.BodyEncoding = encoding;
+
             return this;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseMessage.cs b/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseMessage.cs
index ed9e8a56..b60ed2ce 100644
--- a/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseMessage.cs
+++ b/src/WireMock.Net/ResponseMessage.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 using System.Collections.Concurrent;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Text;
+
 namespace WireMock
 {
     /// <summary>
@@ -27,6 +29,11 @@ namespace WireMock
         /// </summary>
         public string Body { get; set; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets the body encoding.
+        /// </summary>
+        public Encoding BodyEncoding { get; set; } = new UTF8Encoding(false);
+
         /// <summary>
         /// The add header.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/HttpListenerResponseMapperTests.cs b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/HttpListenerResponseMapperTests.cs
index cd0326c6..132e644e 100644
--- a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/HttpListenerResponseMapperTests.cs
+++ b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/HttpListenerResponseMapperTests.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System.Net;
 using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Text;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using NFluent;
@@ -67,6 +68,31 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             Check.That(contentTask.Result).IsEqualTo("Hello !!!");
         }
 
+        [Test]
+        public void Should_map_encoded_body_from_original_response()
+        {
+            // given
+            var response = new ResponseMessage
+            {
+                Body = "Hello !!!",
+                BodyEncoding = Encoding.ASCII
+            };
+
+            var httpListenerResponse = CreateHttpListenerResponse();
+
+            // when
+            new HttpListenerResponseMapper().Map(response, httpListenerResponse);
+
+            // then
+            Check.That(httpListenerResponse.ContentEncoding).Equals(Encoding.ASCII);
+
+            var responseMessage = ToResponseMessage(httpListenerResponse);
+            Check.That(responseMessage).IsNotNull();
+
+            var contentTask = responseMessage.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
+            Check.That(contentTask.Result).IsEqualTo("Hello !!!");
+        }
+
         [TearDown]
         public void StopServer()
         {
diff --git a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestMessageTests.cs b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestMessageTests.cs
index 2e74c704..55ca493c 100644
--- a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestMessageTests.cs
+++ b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestMessageTests.cs
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
         public void Should_parse_query_params()
         {
             // given
-            string bodyAsString = "whatever";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost?foo=bar&multi=1&multi=2"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "whatever";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost?foo=bar&multi=1&multi=2"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             Check.That(request.GetParameter("foo")).Contains("bar");
diff --git a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestTests.cs b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestTests.cs
index c973c1ca..f0663b6b 100644
--- a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestTests.cs
+++ b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/RequestTests.cs
@@ -144,9 +144,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().WithPath("/foo").UsingDelete();
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "whatever";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "Delete", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "whatever";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "Delete", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -202,9 +202,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().WithPath("/foo").UsingAnyVerb().WithHeader("X-toto", "tata");
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "whatever";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "tata" } });
+            var bodyAsString = "whatever";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8, new Dictionary <string, string> { { "X-toto", "tata" } });
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -218,9 +218,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithHeader("X-toto", "tatata");
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "whatever";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "tata" } });
+            var bodyAsString = "whatever";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8, new Dictionary <string, string> { { "X-toto", "tata" } });
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -234,9 +234,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithHeader("X-toto", "abc", false);
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "whatever";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "ABC" } });
+            var bodyAsString = "whatever";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8, new Dictionary <string, string> { { "X-toto", "ABC" } });
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -250,9 +250,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithHeader("X-toto", "tata*");
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "whatever";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "TaTa" } });
+            var bodyAsString = "whatever";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "TaTa" } });
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithCookie("session", "a*");
 
             // when
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", null, null, null, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "session", "abc" } });
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", null, null, null, null, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "session", "abc" } });
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -280,9 +280,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody("Hello world!");
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "Hello world!";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "Hello world!";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -296,9 +296,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var requestBuilder = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new ExactMatcher("cat"));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "cat";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "cat";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -312,9 +312,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var requestBuilder = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new ExactMatcher("cat", "dog"));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "cat";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "cat";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -328,9 +328,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var requestBuilder = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new ExactMatcher("cat"));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "caR";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "caR";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -344,9 +344,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var requestBuilder = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new SimMetricsMatcher("The cat walks in the street."));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "The car drives in the street.";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "The car drives in the street.";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -360,9 +360,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var requestBuilder = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new SimMetricsMatcher("The cat walks in the street."));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "Hello";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "Hello";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -376,9 +376,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().WithPath("/foo").UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new WildcardMatcher("H*o*"));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "Hello world!";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "tatata" } });
+            var bodyAsString = "Hello world!";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "tatata" } });
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -392,9 +392,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new RegexMatcher("H.*o"));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "Hello world!";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "Hello world!";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -414,8 +414,8 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
                         <todo-item id='a2'>def</todo-item>
                         <todo-item id='a3'>xyz</todo-item>
                     </todo-list>";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(xmlBodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, xmlBodyAsString);
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(xmlBodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, xmlBodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -435,8 +435,8 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
                         <todo-item id='a2'>def</todo-item>
                         <todo-item id='a3'>xyz</todo-item>
                     </todo-list>";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(xmlBodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, xmlBodyAsString);
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(xmlBodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, xmlBodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -450,9 +450,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new JsonPathMatcher("$.things[?(@.name == 'RequiredThing')]"));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "{ \"things\": [ { \"name\": \"RequiredThing\" }, { \"name\": \"Wiremock\" } ] }";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "{ \"things\": [ { \"name\": \"RequiredThing\" }, { \"name\": \"Wiremock\" } ] }";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -466,9 +466,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody(new JsonPathMatcher("$.things[?(@.name == 'RequiredThing')]"));
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "{ \"things\": { \"name\": \"Wiremock\" } }";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "{ \"things\": { \"name\": \"Wiremock\" } }";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
@@ -482,9 +482,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             var spec = Request.Create().UsingAnyVerb().WithBody("      Hello world!   ");
 
             // when
-            string bodyAsString = "xxx";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "tatata" } });
+            var bodyAsString = "xxx";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "PUT", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "X-toto", "tatata" } });
 
             // then
             var requestMatchResult = new RequestMatchResult();
diff --git a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/ResponseTests.cs b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/ResponseTests.cs
index 663c6ed9..685e2e95 100644
--- a/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/ResponseTests.cs
+++ b/test/WireMock.Net.Tests/ResponseTests.cs
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
         public async Task Response_ProvideResponse_Handlebars_UrlPathVerb()
         {
             // given
-            string bodyAsString = "abc";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "abc";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             var response = Response.Create()
                 .WithBody("test {{request.url}} {{request.path}} {{request.method}}")
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
         public async Task Response_ProvideResponse_Handlebars_Query()
         {
             // given
-            string bodyAsString = "abc";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo?a=1&a=2&b=5"), "POST", body, bodyAsString);
+            var bodyAsString = "abc";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo?a=1&a=2&b=5"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
 
             var response = Response.Create()
                 .WithBody("test keya={{request.query.a}} idx={{request.query.a.[0]}} idx={{request.query.a.[1]}} keyb={{request.query.b}}")
@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
         public async Task Response_ProvideResponse_Handlebars_Headers()
         {
             // given
-            string bodyAsString = "abc";
-            byte[] body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
-            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "Content-Type", "text/plain" } });
+            var bodyAsString = "abc";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8, new Dictionary<string, string> { { "Content-Type", "text/plain" } });
 
             var response = Response.Create().WithHeader("x", "{{request.headers.Content-Type}}").WithBody("test").WithTransformer();
 
@@ -66,5 +66,41 @@ namespace WireMock.Net.Tests
             Check.That(responseMessage.Body).Equals("test");
             Check.That(responseMessage.Headers).Contains(new KeyValuePair<string,string>("x", "text/plain"));
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public async Task Response_ProvideResponse_Encoding_Body()
+        {
+            // given
+            var bodyAsString = "abc";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
+
+            var response = Response.Create().WithBody("test", Encoding.ASCII);
+
+            // act
+            var responseMessage = await response.ProvideResponse(request);
+
+            // then
+            Check.That(responseMessage.Body).Equals("test");
+            Check.That(responseMessage.BodyEncoding).Equals(Encoding.ASCII);
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public async Task Response_ProvideResponse_Encoding_JsonBody()
+        {
+            // given
+            var bodyAsString = "abc";
+            var body = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(bodyAsString);
+            var request = new RequestMessage(new Uri("http://localhost/foo"), "POST", body, bodyAsString, Encoding.UTF8);
+
+            var response = Response.Create().WithBodyAsJson(new { value = "test" }, Encoding.ASCII);
+
+            // act
+            var responseMessage = await response.ProvideResponse(request);
+
+            // then
+            Check.That(responseMessage.Body).Equals("{\"value\":\"test\"}");
+            Check.That(responseMessage.BodyEncoding).Equals(Encoding.ASCII);
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file