diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1087ae2d9..5988a3c4f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@
     "testEnvironment": "node",
     "snapshotSerializers": [
       "./scripts/filename-serializer.js",
-      "./scripts/prettier-javascript-serializer.js"
+      "./scripts/prettier-javascript-serializer.js",
+      "./scripts/buffer-serializer.js"
     ]
   },
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/packages/pug-filters/lib/handle-filters.js b/packages/pug-filters/lib/handle-filters.js
index 6696290e8..884a50138 100644
--- a/packages/pug-filters/lib/handle-filters.js
+++ b/packages/pug-filters/lib/handle-filters.js
@@ -24,9 +24,13 @@ function handleFilters(ast, filters, options, filterAliases) {
         var firstFilter = node.filters.pop();
         var attrs = getAttributes(firstFilter, options);
         var filename = (attrs.filename = node.file.fullPath);
-        var str = node.file.str;
         node.type = 'Text';
-        node.val = filterFileWithFallback(firstFilter, filename, str, attrs);
+        node.val = filterFileWithFallback(
+          firstFilter,
+          filename,
+          node.file,
+          attrs
+        );
         node.filters
           .slice()
           .reverse()
@@ -55,10 +59,14 @@ function handleFilters(ast, filters, options, filterAliases) {
         }
       }
 
-      function filterFileWithFallback(filter, filename, text, attrs) {
+      function filterFileWithFallback(filter, filename, file, attrs) {
         var filterName = getFilterName(filter);
         if (filters && filters[filterName]) {
-          return filters[filterName](text, attrs);
+          if (filters[filterName].renderBuffer) {
+            return filters[filterName].renderBuffer(file.raw, attrs);
+          } else {
+            return filters[filterName](file.str, attrs);
+          }
         } else {
           return filterWithFallback(filter, filename, attrs, 'renderFile');
         }
diff --git a/packages/pug-load/index.js b/packages/pug-load/index.js
index 1eb1ffcb1..92ae0395c 100644
--- a/packages/pug-load/index.js
+++ b/packages/pug-load/index.js
@@ -21,16 +21,18 @@ function load(ast, options) {
         if (file.type !== 'FileReference') {
           throw new Error('Expected file.type to be "FileReference"');
         }
-        var path, str;
+        var path, str, raw;
         try {
           path = options.resolve(file.path, file.filename, options);
           file.fullPath = path;
-          str = options.read(path, options);
+          raw = options.read(path, options);
+          str = raw.toString('utf8');
         } catch (ex) {
           ex.message += '\n    at ' + node.filename + ' line ' + node.line;
           throw ex;
         }
         file.str = str;
+        file.raw = raw;
         if (node.type === 'Extends' || node.type === 'Include') {
           file.ast = load.string(
             str,
@@ -56,7 +58,7 @@ load.file = function loadFile(filename, options) {
   options = assign(getOptions(options), {
     filename: filename,
   });
-  var str = options.read(filename);
+  var str = options.read(filename).toString('utf8');
   return load.string(str, options);
 };
 
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ load.resolve = function resolve(filename, source, options) {
   return filename;
 };
 load.read = function read(filename, options) {
-  return fs.readFileSync(filename, 'utf8');
+  return fs.readFileSync(filename);
 };
 
 load.validateOptions = function validateOptions(options) {
diff --git a/packages/pug-load/test/__snapshots__/index.test.js.snap b/packages/pug-load/test/__snapshots__/index.test.js.snap
index 1fd0b4beb..6ad59e8c7 100644
--- a/packages/pug-load/test/__snapshots__/index.test.js.snap
+++ b/packages/pug-load/test/__snapshots__/index.test.js.snap
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ Object {
         "fullPath": "<dirname>/bar.pug",
         "line": 1,
         "path": "bar.pug",
+        "raw": Object {
+          "hash": "538bf7d4b81ef364b1f2e9d42c11f156",
+          "size": 11,
+          "type": "Buffer",
+        },
         "str": "block bing
 ",
         "type": "FileReference",
@@ -99,6 +104,11 @@ Object {
             "fullPath": "<dirname>/bing.pug",
             "line": 4,
             "path": "bing.pug",
+            "raw": Object {
+              "hash": "58ecbe086e7a045084cbddac849a2563",
+              "size": 11,
+              "type": "Buffer",
+            },
             "str": ".bing bong
 ",
             "type": "FileReference",
@@ -122,6 +132,11 @@ Object {
                   "fullPath": "<dirname>/script.js",
                   "line": 6,
                   "path": "script.js",
+                  "raw": Object {
+                    "hash": "86d4f8e34165faeb09f10255121078f8",
+                    "size": 32,
+                    "type": "Buffer",
+                  },
                   "str": "document.write('hello world!');
 ",
                   "type": "FileReference",
diff --git a/scripts/buffer-serializer.js b/scripts/buffer-serializer.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ace36985d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/buffer-serializer.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+const crypto = require('crypto');
+
+// Buffer serializer to reduce snapshot gore for Node Buffer type
+module.exports = {
+  test: function(val) {
+    return val && Buffer.isBuffer(val);
+  },
+  print: function(val, serialize, indent) {
+    const output = {
+      type: 'Buffer',
+      size: val.length,
+      hash: crypto
+        .createHash('md5')
+        .update(val)
+        .digest('hex'),
+    };
+    return serialize(output);
+  },
+};