diff --git a/Changes b/Changes
index b6c1c3da5..341500a54 100644
--- a/Changes
+++ b/Changes
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ Revision history for {{$dist->name}}
 
 {{$NEXT}}
         - load DateTime lazily
+	- add ->has_encoding & ->is_encoded_content to files
+	  (thanks, Christopher J. Madsen)
 
 5.019     2014-05-20 21:11:47-04:00 America/New_York
         - remove a very brief-lived attempt to double-decode
diff --git a/lib/Dist/Zilla/File/FromCode.pm b/lib/Dist/Zilla/File/FromCode.pm
index 009af8ca5..2f9aa590a 100644
--- a/lib/Dist/Zilla/File/FromCode.pm
+++ b/lib/Dist/Zilla/File/FromCode.pm
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ has code_return_type => (
   default => 'text',
 );
 
+sub is_encoded_content { shift->code_return_type eq 'bytes' }
+
 =attr encoding
 
 =cut
@@ -51,6 +53,8 @@ has encoding => (
   builder => "_build_encoding",
 );
 
+sub has_encoding { 1 } # You can't change the encoding of a FromCode file
+
 sub _build_encoding {
   my ($self) = @_;
   return $self->code_return_type eq 'text' ? 'UTF-8' : 'bytes';
diff --git a/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/File.pm b/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/File.pm
index f8228fa5a..dd93fab65 100644
--- a/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/File.pm
+++ b/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/File.pm
@@ -60,8 +60,10 @@ has mode => (
 );
 
 requires 'encoding';
+requires 'has_encoding';
 requires 'content';
 requires 'encoded_content';
+requires 'is_encoded_content';
 
 =method is_bytes
 
diff --git a/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/MutableFile.pm b/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/MutableFile.pm
index 8b22c1da1..0d1e54cd0 100644
--- a/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/MutableFile.pm
+++ b/lib/Dist/Zilla/Role/MutableFile.pm
@@ -20,12 +20,14 @@ Default is 'UTF-8'. Can only be set once.
 with 'Dist::Zilla::Role::File';
 
 sub encoding;
+sub has_encoding;
 
 has encoding => (
   is          => 'rw',
   isa         => 'Str',
   lazy        => 1,
   default     => 'UTF-8',
+  predicate   => 'has_encoding',
   traits      => [ qw(SetOnce) ],
 );
 
@@ -100,6 +102,8 @@ has _content_source => (
     builder => '_build_content_source',
 );
 
+sub is_encoded_content { shift->_content_source eq 'encoded_content' }
+
 sub _update_by {
   my ($self, $attr, $from) = @_;
   $self->_content_source($attr);