diff --git a/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.c b/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.c
index edec9e60..4cc4d19f 100644
--- a/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.c
+++ b/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.c
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ static void     add_status                  (MooEdit        *edit,
 static gboolean moo_edit_load_local         (MooEdit        *edit,
                                              GFile          *file,
                                              const char     *encoding,
+                                             const char     *cached_encoding,
                                              GError        **error);
 static gboolean moo_edit_reload_local       (MooEdit        *edit,
                                              const char     *encoding,
@@ -102,9 +103,11 @@ gboolean
 _moo_edit_load_file (MooEdit      *edit,
                      GFile        *file,
                      const char   *encoding,
+                     const char   *cached_encoding,
                      GError      **error)
 {
     char *encoding_copy;
+    char *cached_encoding_copy;
     gboolean result;
     GError *error_here = NULL;
 
@@ -112,8 +115,9 @@ _moo_edit_load_file (MooEdit      *edit,
     moo_return_val_if_fail (G_IS_FILE (file), FALSE);
 
     encoding_copy = g_strdup (normalize_encoding (encoding, FALSE));
+    cached_encoding_copy = cached_encoding ? g_strdup (normalize_encoding (cached_encoding, FALSE)) : NULL;
 
-    result = moo_edit_load_local (edit, file, encoding_copy, &error_here);
+    result = moo_edit_load_local (edit, file, encoding_copy, cached_encoding_copy, &error_here);
 
     if (error_here)
         g_propagate_error (error, error_here);
@@ -379,6 +383,7 @@ static gboolean
 moo_edit_load_local (MooEdit     *edit,
                      GFile       *file,
                      const char  *encoding,
+                     const char  *cached_encoding,
                      GError     **error)
 {
     GtkTextIter start;
@@ -419,6 +424,8 @@ moo_edit_load_local (MooEdit     *edit,
         GSList *encodings;
 
         encodings = get_encodings ();
+        if (cached_encoding)
+            encodings = g_slist_prepend (encodings, g_strdup (cached_encoding));
         result = ERROR_ENCODING;
 
         while (encodings)
@@ -761,6 +768,7 @@ moo_edit_reload_local (MooEdit    *edit,
 
     result = _moo_edit_load_file (edit, file,
                                   encoding ? encoding : edit->priv->encoding,
+                                  NULL,
                                   error);
 
     g_object_set (edit, "enable-highlight", enable_highlight, (char*) 0);
diff --git a/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.h b/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.h
index 2dab6874..e3719134 100644
--- a/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.h
+++ b/moo/mooedit/mooedit-fileops.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ GQuark           _moo_edit_file_error_quark     (void) G_GNUC_CONST;
 gboolean         _moo_edit_load_file            (MooEdit        *edit,
                                                  GFile          *file,
                                                  const char     *encoding,
+                                                 const char     *cached_encoding,
                                                  GError        **error);
 gboolean         _moo_edit_reload_file          (MooEdit        *edit,
                                                  const char     *encoding,
diff --git a/moo/mooedit/mooeditor.c b/moo/mooedit/mooeditor.c
index ab10e456..1563423c 100644
--- a/moo/mooedit/mooeditor.c
+++ b/moo/mooedit/mooeditor.c
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ moo_editor_create_doc (MooEditor      *editor,
     if (filename)
         file = g_file_new_for_path (filename);
 
-    if (file && !_moo_edit_load_file (doc, file, encoding, error))
+    if (file && !_moo_edit_load_file (doc, file, encoding, NULL, error))
     {
         g_object_ref_sink (doc);
         g_object_unref (file);
@@ -920,6 +920,7 @@ moo_editor_load_file (MooEditor       *editor,
     MooEdit *doc = NULL;
     char *uri;
     gboolean result = TRUE;
+    const char *recent_encoding = NULL;
 
     *docp = NULL;
     uri = g_file_get_uri (info->file);
@@ -951,8 +952,15 @@ moo_editor_load_file (MooEditor       *editor,
         new_doc = TRUE;
     }
 
+    if (!info->encoding)
+    {
+        MdHistoryItem *hist_item = md_history_mgr_find_uri (editor->priv->history, uri);
+        if (hist_item)
+            recent_encoding = _moo_edit_history_item_get_encoding (hist_item);
+    }
+
     /* XXX open_single */
-    if (!_moo_edit_load_file (doc, info->file, info->encoding, &error))
+    if (!_moo_edit_load_file (doc, info->file, info->encoding, recent_encoding, &error))
     {
         if (!silent)
         {
@@ -1281,11 +1289,44 @@ do_close_window (MooEditor      *editor,
 }
 
 
+static void
+update_history_item_for_doc (MooEditor *editor,
+                             MooEdit   *doc)
+{
+    char *uri;
+    MdHistoryItem *item;
+    int line;
+    const char *enc;
+
+    if (is_embedded (editor))
+        return;
+
+    if (!(uri = moo_edit_get_uri (doc)))
+        return;
+
+    item = md_history_item_new (uri, NULL);
+
+    line = moo_text_view_get_cursor_line (MOO_TEXT_VIEW (doc));
+    if (line != 0)
+        _moo_edit_history_item_set_line (item, line);
+
+    enc = moo_edit_get_encoding (doc);
+    if (enc && !_moo_encodings_equal (enc, MOO_ENCODING_UTF8))
+    {
+        _moo_edit_history_item_set_encoding (item, enc);
+        g_print ("*** file: %s, encoding: %s ***\n", uri, enc);
+    }
+
+    md_history_mgr_update_file (editor->priv->history, item);
+    md_history_item_free (item);
+    g_free (uri);
+}
+
+
 static void
 do_close_doc (MooEditor *editor,
               MooEdit   *doc)
 {
-    char *uri;
     MooEditWindow *window;
 
     window = moo_edit_get_window (doc);
@@ -1296,26 +1337,7 @@ do_close_doc (MooEditor *editor,
         editor->priv->windowless = doc_list_remove (editor->priv->windowless, doc);
     }
 
-    if (!is_embedded (editor) && (uri = moo_edit_get_uri (doc)))
-    {
-        MdHistoryItem *item;
-        int line;
-        const char *enc;
-
-        item = md_history_item_new (uri, NULL);
-
-        line = moo_text_view_get_cursor_line (MOO_TEXT_VIEW (doc));
-        if (line != 0)
-            _moo_edit_history_item_set_line (item, line);
-
-        enc = moo_edit_get_encoding (doc);
-        if (enc && !_moo_encodings_equal (enc, MOO_ENCODING_UTF8))
-            _moo_edit_history_item_set_encoding (item, enc);
-
-        md_history_mgr_update_file (editor->priv->history, item);
-        md_history_item_free (item);
-        g_free (uri);
-    }
+    update_history_item_for_doc (editor, doc);
 
     if (window)
         _moo_edit_window_remove_doc (window, doc, TRUE);
@@ -2180,6 +2202,8 @@ _moo_editor_save_as (MooEditor      *editor,
         file_info = moo_edit_file_info_new_path (filename, encoding);
     }
 
+    update_history_item_for_doc (editor, doc);
+
     result = do_save (editor, doc, file_info->file, file_info->encoding, error);
 
     /* fall through */