diff --git a/lib/request.js b/lib/request.js
index c8c65a7..8797fbe 100644
--- a/lib/request.js
+++ b/lib/request.js
@@ -449,7 +449,8 @@ module.exports = {
     if (!Array.isArray(charsets)) charsets = [].slice.call(arguments);
     var n = new Negotiator(this.req);
     if (!charsets.length) return n.preferredCharsets();
-    return n.preferredCharsets(charsets)[0];
+    if (!this.header['accept-charset']) return charsets[0];
+    return n.preferredCharsets(charsets)[0] || false;
   },
 
   /**
diff --git a/test/request/acceptsCharsets.js b/test/request/acceptsCharsets.js
index ec51b04..2185d4a 100644
--- a/test/request/acceptsCharsets.js
+++ b/test/request/acceptsCharsets.js
@@ -20,10 +20,29 @@ describe('ctx.acceptsCharsets()', function(){
   })
 
   describe('with multiple arguments', function(){
-    it('should return the best fit', function(){
-      var ctx = context();
-      ctx.req.headers['accept-charset'] = 'utf-8, iso-8859-1;q=0.2, utf-7;q=0.5';
-      ctx.acceptsCharsets('utf-7', 'utf-8').should.equal('utf-8');
+    describe('when Accept-Charset is populated', function(){
+      describe('if any types match', function(){
+        it('should return the best fit', function(){
+          var ctx = context();
+          ctx.req.headers['accept-charset'] = 'utf-8, iso-8859-1;q=0.2, utf-7;q=0.5';
+          ctx.acceptsCharsets('utf-7', 'utf-8').should.equal('utf-8');
+        })
+      })
+
+      describe('if no types match', function(){
+        it('should return false', function(){
+          var ctx = context();
+          ctx.req.headers['accept-charset'] = 'utf-8, iso-8859-1;q=0.2, utf-7;q=0.5';
+          ctx.acceptsCharsets('utf-16').should.be.false;
+        })
+      })
+    })
+
+    describe('when Accept-Charset is not populated', function(){
+      it('should return the first type', function(){
+        var ctx = context();
+        ctx.acceptsCharsets('utf-7', 'utf-8').should.equal('utf-7');
+      })
     })
   })