diff --git a/lib/oauth.js b/lib/oauth.js
index 50dccf99..f800002c 100644
--- a/lib/oauth.js
+++ b/lib/oauth.js
@@ -401,7 +401,9 @@ exports.OAuth.prototype._performSecureRequest= function( oauth_token, oauth_toke
     }
 
     request.on('response', function (response) {
-      response.setEncoding('utf8');
+      if (response.setEncoding) {
+        response.setEncoding('utf8');
+      }
       response.on('data', function (chunk) {
         data+=chunk;
       });