diff --git a/swh/web/browse/utils.py b/swh/web/browse/utils.py
--- a/swh/web/browse/utils.py
+++ b/swh/web/browse/utils.py
@@ -129,19 +129,19 @@
     elif mimetype.startswith('application/octet-stream'):
         # file may detect a text content as binary
         # so try to decode it for display
-        encodings = ['us-ascii']
+        encodings = ['us-ascii', 'utf-8']
         encodings += ['iso-8859-%s' % i for i in range(1, 17)]
-        for encoding in encodings:
+        for enc in encodings:
             try:
-                content_data = content_data.decode(encoding)\
-                                           .encode('utf-8')
+                content_data = content_data.decode(enc).encode('utf-8')
             except Exception:
                 pass
             else:
                 # ensure display in content view
+                encoding = enc
                 mimetype = 'text/plain'
                 break
-    return mimetype, content_data
+    return mimetype, encoding, content_data
 
 
 def request_content(query_string, max_size=content_display_max_size,
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@
                     get_mimetype_and_encoding_for_content(content_data['raw_data']) # noqa
 
             if re_encode:
-                mimetype, raw_data = _re_encode_content(
+                mimetype, encoding, raw_data = _re_encode_content(
                     mimetype, encoding, content_data['raw_data'])
                 content_data['raw_data'] = raw_data
 
diff --git a/swh/web/templates/includes/content-display.html b/swh/web/templates/includes/content-display.html
--- a/swh/web/templates/includes/content-display.html
+++ b/swh/web/templates/includes/content-display.html
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@
           <canvas id="pdf-canvas"></canvas>
         </div>
       {% elif content %}
-        Content with mime type {{ swh_object_metadata.mimetype }} can not be displayed.
+        Content with mime type {{ swh_object_metadata.mimetype }} and encoding
+        {{ swh_object_metadata.encoding }} can not be displayed.
       {% else %}
         {% include "includes/http-error.html" %}
       {% endif %}
diff --git a/swh/web/tests/browse/views/test_content.py b/swh/web/tests/browse/views/test_content.py
--- a/swh/web/tests/browse/views/test_content.py
+++ b/swh/web/tests/browse/views/test_content.py
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@
 )
 from swh.web.tests.strategies import (
     content, content_text_non_utf8, content_text_no_highlight,
-    content_image_type, content_text, invalid_sha1, unknown_content
+    content_image_type, content_text, invalid_sha1, unknown_content,
+    content_utf8_detected_as_binary
 )
 
 
@@ -356,14 +357,26 @@
     assert resp['location'] == redirect_url
 
 
+@given(content_utf8_detected_as_binary())
+def test_content_utf8_detected_as_binary_display(client, archive_data,
+                                                 content):
+    url = reverse('browse-content',
+                  url_args={'query_string': content['sha1']})
+    resp = client.get(url)
+
+    content_display = _process_content_for_display(archive_data, content)
+
+    assert_contains(resp, escape(content_display['content_data']))
+
+
 def _process_content_for_display(archive_data, content):
     content_data = archive_data.content_get(content['sha1'])
 
     mime_type, encoding = get_mimetype_and_encoding_for_content(
         content_data['data'])
 
-    mime_type, content_data = _re_encode_content(mime_type, encoding,
-                                                 content_data['data'])
+    mime_type, encoding, content_data = _re_encode_content(
+        mime_type, encoding, content_data['data'])
 
     return prepare_content_for_display(content_data, mime_type,
                                        content['path'])
diff --git a/swh/web/tests/strategies.py b/swh/web/tests/strategies.py
--- a/swh/web/tests/strategies.py
+++ b/swh/web/tests/strategies.py
@@ -123,6 +123,24 @@
     return content().filter(lambda c: c['mimetype'].startswith('image/'))
 
 
+def content_utf8_detected_as_binary():
+    """
+    Hypothesis strategy returning random textual contents detected as binary
+    by libmagic while they are valid UTF-8 encoded files.
+    """
+    def utf8_binary_detected(content):
+        if content['encoding'] != 'binary':
+            return False
+        try:
+            content['data'].decode('utf-8')
+        except Exception:
+            return False
+        else:
+            return True
+
+    return content().filter(utf8_binary_detected)
+
+
 @composite
 def new_content(draw):
     blake2s256_hex = draw(sha256())