diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 754392a27f..7654860519 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ Release date: TBA
 
   Closes #3282
 
+* The ``unspecified-encoding`` checker now also checks calls to ``pathlib.Path().read_text()``
+  and ``pathlib.Path().write_text()``
+
+  Closes #4945
+
 
 What's New in Pylint 2.10.3?
 ============================
diff --git a/doc/whatsnew/2.11.rst b/doc/whatsnew/2.11.rst
index 8a9161c710..6a22d5ba7a 100644
--- a/doc/whatsnew/2.11.rst
+++ b/doc/whatsnew/2.11.rst
@@ -60,3 +60,8 @@ Other Changes
 * Fix false positive ``dict-iter-missing-items`` for dictionaries only using tuples as keys
 
   Closes #3282
+
+* The ``unspecified-encoding`` checker now also checks calls to ``pathlib.Path().read_text()``
+  and ``pathlib.Path().write_text()``
+
+  Closes #4945
diff --git a/pylint/checkers/stdlib.py b/pylint/checkers/stdlib.py
index b7a6e031b7..f11cbac988 100644
--- a/pylint/checkers/stdlib.py
+++ b/pylint/checkers/stdlib.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 from pylint.interfaces import IAstroidChecker
 
 OPEN_FILES_MODE = ("open", "file")
-OPEN_FILES_ENCODING = ("open",)
+OPEN_FILES_ENCODING = ("open", "read_text", "write_text")
 UNITTEST_CASE = "unittest.case"
 THREADING_THREAD = "threading.Thread"
 COPY_COPY = "copy.copy"
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 ENV_GETTERS = ("os.getenv",)
 SUBPROCESS_POPEN = "subprocess.Popen"
 SUBPROCESS_RUN = "subprocess.run"
-OPEN_MODULE = "_io"
+OPEN_MODULE = {"_io", "pathlib"}
 DEBUG_BREAKPOINTS = ("builtins.breakpoint", "sys.breakpointhook", "pdb.set_trace")
 
 
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ def visit_call(self, node: nodes.Call) -> None:
         for inferred in utils.infer_all(node.func):
             if inferred is astroid.Uninferable:
                 continue
-            if inferred.root().name == OPEN_MODULE:
+            if inferred.root().name in OPEN_MODULE:
                 if (
                     isinstance(node.func, nodes.Name)
                     and node.func.name in OPEN_FILES_MODE
diff --git a/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.py b/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.py
index 20d2d7be1c..1b3ae37958 100644
--- a/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.py
+++ b/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # pylint: disable=consider-using-with
 import io
 import locale
+from pathlib import Path
 
 FILENAME = "foo.bar"
 open(FILENAME, "w", encoding="utf-8")
@@ -53,3 +54,21 @@
 LOCALE_ENCODING = None
 with io.open(FILENAME, encoding=LOCALE_ENCODING) as f:  # [unspecified-encoding]
     pass
+
+LOCALE_ENCODING = locale.getlocale()[1]
+Path(FILENAME).read_text(encoding=LOCALE_ENCODING)
+Path(FILENAME).read_text(encoding="utf8")
+
+LOCALE_ENCODING = None
+Path(FILENAME).read_text()  # [unspecified-encoding]
+Path(FILENAME).read_text(encoding=None)  # [unspecified-encoding]
+Path(FILENAME).read_text(encoding=LOCALE_ENCODING)  # [unspecified-encoding]
+
+LOCALE_ENCODING = locale.getlocale()[1]
+Path(FILENAME).write_text("string", encoding=LOCALE_ENCODING)
+Path(FILENAME).write_text("string", encoding="utf8")
+
+LOCALE_ENCODING = None
+Path(FILENAME).write_text("string")  # [unspecified-encoding]
+Path(FILENAME).write_text("string", encoding=None)  # [unspecified-encoding]
+Path(FILENAME).write_text("string", encoding=LOCALE_ENCODING)  # [unspecified-encoding]
diff --git a/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.txt b/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.txt
index cde7f22383..45bf15f5a9 100644
--- a/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.txt
+++ b/tests/functional/u/unspecified_encoding_py38.txt
@@ -1,15 +1,21 @@
-unspecified-encoding:10:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:11:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:12:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:13:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:14:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:23:5::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:26:5::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:30:5::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:35:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:36:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:37:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:38:0::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:47:5::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:50:5::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
-unspecified-encoding:54:5::"Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding"
+unspecified-encoding:11:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:12:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:13:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:14:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:15:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:24:5::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:27:5::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:31:5::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:36:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:37:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:38:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:39:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:48:5::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:51:5::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:55:5::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:63:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:64:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:65:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:72:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:73:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH
+unspecified-encoding:74:0::Using open without explicitly specifying an encoding:HIGH