diff --git a/lib/response.js b/lib/response.js
index 7a2f0ecce56..1a4d2deff26 100644
--- a/lib/response.js
+++ b/lib/response.js
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ res.send = function send(body) {
   var chunk = body;
   var encoding;
   var req = this.req;
-  var type;
 
   // settings
   var app = this.app;
@@ -134,7 +133,12 @@ res.send = function send(body) {
   switch (typeof chunk) {
     // string defaulting to html
     case 'string':
-      if (!this.get('Content-Type')) {
+      encoding = 'utf8';
+      const type = this.get('Content-Type');
+
+      if (typeof type === 'string') {
+        this.set('Content-Type', setCharset(type, 'utf-8'));
+      } else {
         this.type('html');
       }
       break;
@@ -153,17 +157,6 @@ res.send = function send(body) {
       break;
   }
 
-  // write strings in utf-8
-  if (typeof chunk === 'string') {
-    encoding = 'utf8';
-    type = this.get('Content-Type');
-
-    // reflect this in content-type
-    if (typeof type === 'string') {
-      this.set('Content-Type', setCharset(type, 'utf-8'));
-    }
-  }
-
   // determine if ETag should be generated
   var etagFn = app.get('etag fn')
   var generateETag = !this.get('ETag') && typeof etagFn === 'function'