diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e8e984a..45879b2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .envrc
+.idea/
 
 # Logs
 logs
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index c12df09..5103055 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -29884,8 +29884,11 @@ class Blob {
         if (!fs.existsSync(this.absolutePath)) {
             throw new Error(`File does not exist, path: ${this.absolutePath}`);
         }
+        // Always read files as raw buffers without encoding
+        // The Base64Encoder works with buffers for both text and binary files
+        // Using any encoding (like 'utf8') corrupts the data
         return fs
-            .createReadStream(this.absolutePath, { encoding: 'utf8' })
+            .createReadStream(this.absolutePath)
             .pipe(new base64_encoder_1.default());
     }
     load() {
@@ -30591,12 +30594,12 @@ class Base64Encoder extends node_stream_1.Transform {
             chunk = chunk.subarray(0, chunk.length - overflowSize);
         }
         const base64String = chunk.toString('base64');
-        this.push(node_buffer_1.Buffer.from(base64String));
+        this.push(base64String);
         callback();
     }
     _flush(callback) {
         if (this.overflow) {
-            this.push(node_buffer_1.Buffer.from(this.overflow.toString('base64')));
+            this.push(this.overflow.toString('base64'));
         }
         callback();
     }
diff --git a/src/blob.ts b/src/blob.ts
index b6d598b..930dd5b 100644
--- a/src/blob.ts
+++ b/src/blob.ts
@@ -26,8 +26,11 @@ export class Blob {
       throw new Error(`File does not exist, path: ${this.absolutePath}`)
     }
 
+    // Always read files as raw buffers without encoding
+    // The Base64Encoder works with buffers for both text and binary files
+    // Using any encoding (like 'utf8') corrupts the data
     return fs
-      .createReadStream(this.absolutePath, { encoding: 'utf8' })
+      .createReadStream(this.absolutePath)
       .pipe(new Base64Encoder())
   }
 
diff --git a/src/stream/base64-encoder.ts b/src/stream/base64-encoder.ts
index 671f87e..d8e4e2a 100644
--- a/src/stream/base64-encoder.ts
+++ b/src/stream/base64-encoder.ts
@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@ export default class Base64Encoder extends Transform {
     }
 
     const base64String = chunk.toString('base64')
-    this.push(Buffer.from(base64String))
+    this.push(base64String)
     callback()
   }
 
   _flush(callback: TransformCallback): void {
     if (this.overflow) {
-      this.push(Buffer.from(this.overflow.toString('base64')))
+      this.push(this.overflow.toString('base64'))
     }
     callback()
   }