diff --git a/doc/api/errors.md b/doc/api/errors.md
index 9420e07b16c871..ebbe215b6075f1 100644
--- a/doc/api/errors.md
+++ b/doc/api/errors.md
@@ -2349,7 +2349,7 @@ such as `process.stdout.on('data')`.
 [`sign.sign()`]: crypto.html#crypto_sign_sign_privatekey_outputencoding
 [`stream.pipe()`]: stream.html#stream_readable_pipe_destination_options
 [`stream.push()`]: stream.html#stream_readable_push_chunk_encoding
-[`stream.unshift()`]: stream.html#stream_readable_unshift_chunk
+[`stream.unshift()`]: stream.html#stream_readable_unshift_chunk_encoding
 [`stream.write()`]: stream.html#stream_writable_write_chunk_encoding_callback
 [`subprocess.kill()`]: child_process.html#child_process_subprocess_kill_signal
 [`subprocess.send()`]: child_process.html#child_process_subprocess_send_message_sendhandle_options_callback
diff --git a/doc/api/stream.md b/doc/api/stream.md
index b78fa7fde46cad..46f4226039c2df 100644
--- a/doc/api/stream.md
+++ b/doc/api/stream.md
@@ -1195,7 +1195,7 @@ setTimeout(() => {
 }, 1000);
 ```
 
-##### readable.unshift(chunk)
+##### readable.unshift(chunk[, encoding])
 <!-- YAML
 added: v0.9.11
 changes:
@@ -1208,6 +1208,8 @@ changes:
   read queue. For streams not operating in object mode, `chunk` must be a
   string, `Buffer` or `Uint8Array`. For object mode streams, `chunk` may be
   any JavaScript value other than `null`.
+* `encoding` {string} Encoding of string chunks. Must be a valid
+  `Buffer` encoding, such as `'utf8'` or `'ascii'`.
 
 The `readable.unshift()` method pushes a chunk of data back into the internal
 buffer. This is useful in certain situations where a stream is being consumed by
diff --git a/lib/_stream_readable.js b/lib/_stream_readable.js
index 163a042f08dd05..d6db7188750ebd 100644
--- a/lib/_stream_readable.js
+++ b/lib/_stream_readable.js
@@ -207,13 +207,28 @@ Readable.prototype._destroy = function(err, cb) {
 // similar to how Writable.write() returns true if you should
 // write() some more.
 Readable.prototype.push = function(chunk, encoding) {
-  const state = this._readableState;
-  var skipChunkCheck;
+  return readableAddChunk(this, chunk, encoding, false);
+};
+
+// Unshift should *always* be something directly out of read()
+Readable.prototype.unshift = function(chunk, encoding) {
+  return readableAddChunk(this, chunk, encoding, true);
+};
+
+function readableAddChunk(stream, chunk, encoding, addToFront) {
+  debug('readableAddChunk', chunk);
+  const state = stream._readableState;
+
+  let skipChunkCheck;
 
   if (!state.objectMode) {
     if (typeof chunk === 'string') {
       encoding = encoding || state.defaultEncoding;
-      if (encoding !== state.encoding) {
+      if (addToFront && state.encoding && state.encoding !== encoding) {
+        // When unshifting, if state.encoding is set, we have to save
+        // the string in the BufferList with the state encoding
+        chunk = Buffer.from(chunk, encoding).toString(state.encoding);
+      } else if (encoding !== state.encoding) {
         chunk = Buffer.from(chunk, encoding);
         encoding = '';
       }
@@ -223,17 +238,6 @@ Readable.prototype.push = function(chunk, encoding) {
     skipChunkCheck = true;
   }
 
-  return readableAddChunk(this, chunk, encoding, false, skipChunkCheck);
-};
-
-// Unshift should *always* be something directly out of read()
-Readable.prototype.unshift = function(chunk) {
-  return readableAddChunk(this, chunk, null, true, false);
-};
-
-function readableAddChunk(stream, chunk, encoding, addToFront, skipChunkCheck) {
-  debug('readableAddChunk', chunk);
-  const state = stream._readableState;
   if (chunk === null) {
     state.reading = false;
     onEofChunk(stream, state);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-stream-readable-unshift.js b/test/parallel/test-stream-readable-unshift.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..d574b7d0465b76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-stream-readable-unshift.js
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const { Readable } = require('stream');
+
+{
+  // Check that strings are saved as Buffer
+  const readable = new Readable({ read() {} });
+
+  const string = 'abc';
+
+  readable.on('data', common.mustCall((chunk) => {
+    assert(Buffer.isBuffer(chunk));
+    assert.strictEqual(chunk.toString('utf8'), string);
+  }, 1));
+
+  readable.unshift(string);
+
+}
+
+{
+  // Check that data goes at the beginning
+  const readable = new Readable({ read() {} });
+  const unshift = 'front';
+  const push = 'back';
+
+  const expected = [unshift, push];
+  readable.on('data', common.mustCall((chunk) => {
+    assert.strictEqual(chunk.toString('utf8'), expected.shift());
+  }, 2));
+
+
+  readable.push(push);
+  readable.unshift(unshift);
+}
+
+{
+  // Check that buffer is saved with correct encoding
+  const readable = new Readable({ read() {} });
+
+  const encoding = 'base64';
+  const string = Buffer.from('abc').toString(encoding);
+
+  readable.on('data', common.mustCall((chunk) => {
+    assert.strictEqual(chunk.toString(encoding), string);
+  }, 1));
+
+  readable.unshift(string, encoding);
+
+}
+
+{
+
+  const streamEncoding = 'base64';
+
+  function checkEncoding(readable) {
+
+    // chunk encodings
+    const encodings = ['utf8', 'binary', 'hex', 'base64'];
+    const expected = [];
+
+    readable.on('data', common.mustCall((chunk) => {
+      const { encoding, string } = expected.pop();
+      assert.strictEqual(chunk.toString(encoding), string);
+    }, encodings.length));
+
+    for (const encoding of encodings) {
+      const string = 'abc';
+
+      // If encoding is the same as the state.encoding the string is
+      // saved as is
+      const expect = encoding !== streamEncoding ?
+        Buffer.from(string, encoding).toString(streamEncoding) : string;
+
+      expected.push({ encoding, string: expect });
+
+      readable.unshift(string, encoding);
+    }
+  }
+
+  const r1 = new Readable({ read() {} });
+  r1.setEncoding(streamEncoding);
+  checkEncoding(r1);
+
+  const r2 = new Readable({ read() {}, encoding: streamEncoding });
+  checkEncoding(r2);
+
+}
+
+{
+  // Both .push & .unshift should have the same behaviour
+  // When setting an encoding, each chunk should be emitted with that encoding
+  const encoding = 'base64';
+
+  function checkEncoding(readable) {
+    const string = 'abc';
+    readable.on('data', common.mustCall((chunk) => {
+      assert.strictEqual(chunk, Buffer.from(string).toString(encoding));
+    }, 2));
+
+    readable.push(string);
+    readable.unshift(string);
+  }
+
+  const r1 = new Readable({ read() {} });
+  r1.setEncoding(encoding);
+  checkEncoding(r1);
+
+  const r2 = new Readable({ read() {}, encoding });
+  checkEncoding(r2);
+
+}
+
+{
+  // Check that error is thrown for invalid chunks
+
+  const readable = new Readable({ read() {} });
+  function checkError(fn) {
+    common.expectsError(fn, {
+      code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
+      type: TypeError
+    });
+  }
+
+  checkError(() => readable.unshift([]));
+  checkError(() => readable.unshift({}));
+  checkError(() => readable.unshift(0));
+
+}
+
+{
+  // Check that ObjectMode works
+  const readable = new Readable({ objectMode: true, read() {} });
+
+  const chunks = ['a', 1, {}, []];
+
+  readable.on('data', common.mustCall((chunk) => {
+    assert.strictEqual(chunk, chunks.pop());
+  }, chunks.length));
+
+  for (const chunk of chunks) {
+    readable.unshift(chunk);
+  }
+}
+
+{
+
+  // Should not throw: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/27192
+  const highWaterMark = 50;
+  class ArrayReader extends Readable {
+    constructor(opt) {
+      super({ highWaterMark });
+      // The error happened only when pushing above hwm
+      this.buffer = new Array(highWaterMark * 2).fill(0).map(String);
+    }
+    _read(size) {
+      while (this.buffer.length) {
+        const chunk = this.buffer.shift();
+        if (!this.buffer.length) {
+          this.push(chunk);
+          this.push(null);
+          return true;
+        }
+        if (!this.push(chunk))
+          return;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  function onRead() {
+    while (null !== (stream.read())) {
+      // Remove the 'readable' listener before unshifting
+      stream.removeListener('readable', onRead);
+      stream.unshift('a');
+      stream.on('data', (chunk) => {
+        console.log(chunk.length);
+      });
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const stream = new ArrayReader();
+  stream.once('readable', common.mustCall(onRead));
+  stream.on('end', common.mustCall(() => {}));
+
+}