diff --git a/lib/core/index.js b/lib/core/index.js
index 35a4136d..88ec55e0 100644
--- a/lib/core/index.js
+++ b/lib/core/index.js
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ const version = require('../../package.json').version;
 const status = require('./status-handlers');
 const generateEtag = require('./etag');
 const optsParser = require('./opts');
+const htmlEncodingSniffer = require("html-encoding-sniffer");
+const { Readable } = require('stream');
 
 let httpServerCore = null;
 
@@ -222,15 +224,18 @@ module.exports = function createMiddleware(_dir, _options) {
       // and brotli special case.
       const defaultType = opts.contentType || 'application/octet-stream';
       let contentType = mime.lookup(file, defaultType);
-      let charSet;
       const range = (req.headers && req.headers.range);
       const lastModified = (new Date(stat.mtime)).toUTCString();
       const etag = generateEtag(stat, weakEtags);
       let cacheControl = cache;
       let stream = null;
       if (contentType && isTextFile(contentType)) {
-        // Assume text types are utf8
-        contentType += '; charset=UTF-8';
+        const htmlBytes = fs.readFileSync(file);
+        const sniffedEncoding = htmlEncodingSniffer(htmlBytes, {
+          defaultEncoding: 'UTF-8'
+        });
+        contentType += `; charset=${sniffedEncoding}`;
+        stream = Readable.from(htmlBytes)
       }
 
       if (file === gzippedFile) { // is .gz picked up
@@ -312,7 +317,10 @@ module.exports = function createMiddleware(_dir, _options) {
         return;
       }
 
-      stream = fs.createReadStream(file);
+      // streams may already have been assigned during encoding sniffing.
+      if (stream === null) {
+        stream = fs.createReadStream(file);
+      }
 
       stream.pipe(res);
       stream.on('error', (err) => {
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 41e90a35..10398fa9 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
+      "name": "http-server",
       "version": "13.0.2",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@
         "colors": "^1.4.0",
         "corser": "^2.0.1",
         "he": "^1.1.0",
+        "html-encoding-sniffer": "^3.0.0",
         "http-proxy": "^1.18.0",
         "mime": "^1.6.0",
         "minimist": "^1.2.5",
@@ -22,7 +24,6 @@
         "url-join": "^2.0.5"
       },
       "bin": {
-        "hs": "bin/http-server",
         "http-server": "bin/http-server"
       },
       "devDependencies": {
@@ -2496,6 +2497,17 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-mxIDAb9Lsm6DoOJ7xH+5+X4y1LU/4Hi50L9C5sIswK3JzULS4bwk1FvjdBgvYR4bzT4tuUQiC15FE2f5HbLvYw==",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "node_modules/html-encoding-sniffer": {
+      "version": "3.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/html-encoding-sniffer/-/html-encoding-sniffer-3.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-oWv4T4yJ52iKrufjnyZPkrN0CH3QnrUqdB6In1g5Fe1mia8GmF36gnfNySxoZtxD5+NmYw1EElVXiBk93UeskA==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "whatwg-encoding": "^2.0.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=12"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/html-escaper": {
       "version": "2.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/html-escaper/-/html-escaper-2.0.2.tgz",
@@ -4878,8 +4890,7 @@
     "node_modules/safer-buffer": {
       "version": "2.1.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/safer-buffer/-/safer-buffer-2.1.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-YZo3K82SD7Riyi0E1EQPojLz7kpepnSQI9IyPbHHg1XXXevb5dJI7tpyN2ADxGcQbHG7vcyRHk0cbwqcQriUtg==",
-      "dev": true
+      "integrity": "sha512-YZo3K82SD7Riyi0E1EQPojLz7kpepnSQI9IyPbHHg1XXXevb5dJI7tpyN2ADxGcQbHG7vcyRHk0cbwqcQriUtg=="
     },
     "node_modules/secure-compare": {
       "version": "3.0.1",
@@ -7626,6 +7637,28 @@
         "node": ">= 0.8.0"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/whatwg-encoding": {
+      "version": "2.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/whatwg-encoding/-/whatwg-encoding-2.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-p41ogyeMUrw3jWclHWTQg1k05DSVXPLcVxRTYsXUk+ZooOCZLcoYgPZ/HL/D/N+uQPOtcp1me1WhBEaX02mhWg==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "iconv-lite": "0.6.3"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=12"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/whatwg-encoding/node_modules/iconv-lite": {
+      "version": "0.6.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/iconv-lite/-/iconv-lite-0.6.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-4fCk79wshMdzMp2rH06qWrJE4iolqLhCUH+OiuIgU++RB0+94NlDL81atO7GX55uUKueo0txHNtvEyI6D7WdMw==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "safer-buffer": ">= 2.1.2 < 3.0.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=0.10.0"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/which": {
       "version": "1.3.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/which/-/which-1.3.1.tgz",
@@ -10003,6 +10036,14 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-mxIDAb9Lsm6DoOJ7xH+5+X4y1LU/4Hi50L9C5sIswK3JzULS4bwk1FvjdBgvYR4bzT4tuUQiC15FE2f5HbLvYw==",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "html-encoding-sniffer": {
+      "version": "3.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/html-encoding-sniffer/-/html-encoding-sniffer-3.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-oWv4T4yJ52iKrufjnyZPkrN0CH3QnrUqdB6In1g5Fe1mia8GmF36gnfNySxoZtxD5+NmYw1EElVXiBk93UeskA==",
+      "requires": {
+        "whatwg-encoding": "^2.0.0"
+      }
+    },
     "html-escaper": {
       "version": "2.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/html-escaper/-/html-escaper-2.0.2.tgz",
@@ -11935,8 +11976,7 @@
     "safer-buffer": {
       "version": "2.1.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/safer-buffer/-/safer-buffer-2.1.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-YZo3K82SD7Riyi0E1EQPojLz7kpepnSQI9IyPbHHg1XXXevb5dJI7tpyN2ADxGcQbHG7vcyRHk0cbwqcQriUtg==",
-      "dev": true
+      "integrity": "sha512-YZo3K82SD7Riyi0E1EQPojLz7kpepnSQI9IyPbHHg1XXXevb5dJI7tpyN2ADxGcQbHG7vcyRHk0cbwqcQriUtg=="
     },
     "secure-compare": {
       "version": "3.0.1",
@@ -13931,6 +13971,24 @@
         "vow": "^0.4.17"
       }
     },
+    "whatwg-encoding": {
+      "version": "2.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/whatwg-encoding/-/whatwg-encoding-2.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-p41ogyeMUrw3jWclHWTQg1k05DSVXPLcVxRTYsXUk+ZooOCZLcoYgPZ/HL/D/N+uQPOtcp1me1WhBEaX02mhWg==",
+      "requires": {
+        "iconv-lite": "0.6.3"
+      },
+      "dependencies": {
+        "iconv-lite": {
+          "version": "0.6.3",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/iconv-lite/-/iconv-lite-0.6.3.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-4fCk79wshMdzMp2rH06qWrJE4iolqLhCUH+OiuIgU++RB0+94NlDL81atO7GX55uUKueo0txHNtvEyI6D7WdMw==",
+          "requires": {
+            "safer-buffer": ">= 2.1.2 < 3.0.0"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "which": {
       "version": "1.3.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/which/-/which-1.3.1.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b6d0d235..db161b20 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@
     "colors": "^1.4.0",
     "corser": "^2.0.1",
     "he": "^1.1.0",
+    "html-encoding-sniffer": "^3.0.0",
     "http-proxy": "^1.18.0",
     "mime": "^1.6.0",
     "minimist": "^1.2.5",