diff --git a/lib/fs.js b/lib/fs.js
index 8724e7039a..3ab3f7240b 100644
--- a/lib/fs.js
+++ b/lib/fs.js
@@ -73,10 +73,12 @@ fs.readFile = function (path, encoding_, callback) {
           binding.close(fd);
           if (encoding) {
             try {
-              callback(null, buffer.toString(encoding));
+              var str = buffer.toString(encoding);
             } catch (err) {
               callback(err);
+              return;
             }
+            callback(null, str);
           } else {
             callback(null, buffer);
           }