diff --git a/github/repos_contents.go b/github/repos_contents.go
index de7a0d5b82..d59c735df8 100644
--- a/github/repos_contents.go
+++ b/github/repos_contents.go
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ func (r *RepositoryContent) GetContent() (string, error) {
 			return "", nil
 		}
 		return *r.Content, nil
+	case "none":
+		return "", errors.New("unsupported content encoding: none, this may occur when file size > 1 MB, if that is the case consider using DownloadContents")
 	default:
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("unsupported content encoding: %v", encoding)
 	}
diff --git a/github/repos_contents_test.go b/github/repos_contents_test.go
index ab69b5cdcb..f961306920 100644
--- a/github/repos_contents_test.go
+++ b/github/repos_contents_test.go
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ func TestRepositoryContent_GetContent(t *testing.T) {
 			want:     "",
 			wantErr:  true,
 		},
+		{
+			encoding: String("none"),
+			content:  nil,
+			want:     "",
+			wantErr:  true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {