diff --git a/src/builtin.cpp b/src/builtin.cpp
index dc1f1f652a..1cc429c691 100644
--- a/src/builtin.cpp
+++ b/src/builtin.cpp
@@ -456,6 +456,8 @@ Java_java_lang_System_getVMProperty(Thread* t, jclass, jstring name,
     r = makeLocalReference(t, makeString(t, "%s", t->m->finder->path()));
   } else if (strcmp(n, "avian.version") == 0) {
     r = makeLocalReference(t, makeString(t, AVIAN_VERSION));
+  } else if (strcmp(n, "file.encoding") == 0) {
+    r = makeLocalReference(t, makeString(t, "ASCII"));
   } else {
     const char* v = findProperty(t, n);
     if (v) {