diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/base.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
@@ -1024,7 +1024,7 @@ class EmptyChangeset(BaseChangeset):
         return self
 
     def get_file_content(self, path):
-        return ''
+        return b''
 
     def get_file_size(self, path):
         return 0
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py b/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import stat
 
 import pytest
 
+from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyChangeset
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.nodes import DirNode, FileNode, Node, NodeError, NodeKind
 
 
@@ -182,3 +183,8 @@ class TestNodeContent(object):
         data = """\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n\x00\x00\x00\rIHDR\x00\x00\x00\x10\x00\x00\x00\x10\x08\x06\x00\x00\x00\x1f??a\x00\x00\x00\x04gAMA\x00\x00\xaf?7\x05\x8a?\x00\x00\x00\x19tEXtSoftware\x00Adobe ImageReadyq?e<\x00\x00\x025IDAT8?\xa5\x93?K\x94Q\x14\x87\x9f\xf7?Q\x1bs4?\x03\x9a\xa8?B\x02\x8b$\x10[U;i\x13?6h?&h[?"\x14j?\xa2M\x7fB\x14F\x9aQ?&\x842?\x0b\x89"\x82??!?\x9c!\x9c2l??{N\x8bW\x9dY\xb4\t/\x1c?=\x9b?}????\xa9*;9!?\x83\x91?[?\\v*?D\x04\'`EpNp\xa2X\'U?pVq"Sw.\x1e?\x08\x01D?jw????\xbc??7{|\x9b?\x89$\x01??W@\x15\x9c\x05q`Lt/\x97?\x94\xa1d?\x18~?\x18?\x18W[%\xb0?\x83??\x14\x88\x8dB?\xa6H\tL\tl\x19>/\x01`\xac\xabx?\x9cl\nx\xb0\x98\x07\x95\x88D$"q[\x19?d\x00(o\n\xa0??\x7f\xb9\xa4?\x1bF\x1f\x8e\xac\xa8?j??eUU}?.?\x9f\x8cE??x\x94??\r\xbdtoJU5"0N\x10U?\x00??V\t\x02\x9f\x81?U?\x00\x9eM\xae2?r\x9b7\x83\x82\x8aP3????.?&"?\xb7ZP \x0c<?O\xa5\t}\xb8?\x99\xa6?\x87?\x1di|/\xa0??0\xbe\x1fp?d&\x1a\xad\x95\x8a\x07?\t*\x10??b:?d?.\x13C\x8a?\x12\xbe\xbf\x8e?{???\x08?\x80\xa7\x13+d\x13>J?\x80\x15T\x95\x9a\x00??S\x8c\r?\xa1\x03\x07?\x96\x9b\xa7\xab=E??\xa4\xb3?\x19q??B\x91=\x8d??k?J\x0bV"??\xf7x?\xa1\x00?\\.\x87\x87???\x02F@D\x99],??\x10#?X\xb7=\xb9\x10?Z\x1by???cI??\x1ag?\x92\xbc?T?t[\x92\x81?<_\x17~\x92\x88?H%?\x10Q\x02\x9f\n\x81qQ\x0bm?\x1bX?\xb1AK\xa6\x9e\xb9?u\xb2?1\xbe|/\x92M@\xa2!F?\xa9>"\r<DT?>\x92\x8e?>\x9a9Qv\x127?a\xac?Y?8?:??]X???9\x80\xb7?u?\x0b#BZ\x8d=\x1d?p\x00\x00\x00\x00IEND\xaeB`\x82"""
         filenode = FileNode('calendar.png', content=data)
         assert filenode.is_binary
+
+    def test_if_binary_empty(self):
+        empty_cs = EmptyChangeset()
+        filenode = FileNode('foo', changeset=empty_cs)
+        assert not filenode.is_binary