diff --git a/lib/payload.js b/lib/payload.js
index 2aed46b2e..3474b4e15 100755
--- a/lib/payload.js
+++ b/lib/payload.js
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ exports.read = function (request, next) {
 
             // Set parser
 
-            internals.parse(payload.toString('utf8'), req.headers, function (err, result) {
+            internals.parse(payload, req.headers, function (err, result) {
 
                 if (err) {
                     return finish(err);
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ internals.isGzip = function (compareBuf) {
 };
 
 
-internals.parse = function (result, headers, callback) {
+internals.parse = function (payload, headers, callback) {
 
     callback = Utils.nextTick(callback);
 
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ internals.parse = function (result, headers, callback) {
     // Text
 
     if (mime.match(/^text\/.+$/)) {
-        return callback(result);
+        return callback(payload.toString('utf8'));
     }
 
     // JSON
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ internals.parse = function (result, headers, callback) {
         var error = null;
 
         try {
-            obj = JSON.parse(result);
+            obj = JSON.parse(payload.toString('utf8'));
         }
         catch (exp) {
             error = Boom.badRequest('Invalid request payload format');
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ internals.parse = function (result, headers, callback) {
     // Form-encoded
 
     if (mime === 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded') {
-        return callback(null, Querystring.parse(result));
+        return callback(null, Querystring.parse(payload.toString('utf8')));
     }
 
     // Multipart
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ internals.parse = function (result, headers, callback) {
         });
 
         form.writeHeaders(headers);
-        form.write(new Buffer(result));
+        form.write(new Buffer(payload));
         return;
     }
 
diff --git a/test/integration/payload.js b/test/integration/payload.js
index 656785c24..ff16f81cf 100755
--- a/test/integration/payload.js
+++ b/test/integration/payload.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ var Http = require('http');
 var Path = require('path');
 var Stream = require('stream');
 var Zlib = require('zlib');
+var Assert = require('assert');
 var Hapi = require('../..');
 
 
@@ -542,11 +543,19 @@ describe('Payload', function () {
 
         it('parses a file correctly', function (done) {
 
-            var file = Fs.readFileSync(Path.join(__dirname, '../../images/hapi.png'));
+            var path = Path.join(__dirname, '../../images/hapi.png');
+            var stats = Fs.statSync(path);
+            var fileStream = Fs.createReadStream(path);
+            var fileContents = Fs.readFileSync(path, { encoding: 'binary' });
+            
             var fileHandler = function (request) {
 
                 expect(request.raw.req.headers['content-type']).to.contain('multipart/form-data');
-                expect(request.payload['my_file']).to.contain('Photoshop');
+                expect(request.payload['my_file'].size).to.equal(stats.size);
+
+                var tmpContents = Fs.readFileSync(request.payload['my_file'].path, { encoding: 'binary' });
+                Assert.deepEqual(fileContents, tmpContents);
+
                 done();
             };
 
@@ -556,7 +565,7 @@ describe('Payload', function () {
 
                 var r = Request.post(server.settings.uri + '/file');
                 var form = r.form();
-                form.append('my_file', file);
+                form.append('my_file', fileStream);
             });
         });
     });