diff --git a/api/handler.go b/api/handler.go
index cf30d52..4c36f9c 100644
--- a/api/handler.go
+++ b/api/handler.go
@@ -319,6 +319,15 @@ func healthCheck(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	w.Write([]byte("WORKING"))
 }
 
+func getMimeType(path string, content []byte) string {
+	extension := filepath.Ext(path)
+	mimeType := mime.TypeByExtension(extension)
+	if mimeType == "" {
+		mimeType = http.DetectContentType(content)
+	}
+	return mimeType
+}
+
 func getFileContents(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	repo := r.URL.Query().Get(":name")
 	path := r.URL.Query().Get("path")
@@ -336,12 +345,7 @@ func getFileContents(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusNotFound)
 		return
 	}
-	extension := filepath.Ext(path)
-	mimeType := mime.TypeByExtension(extension)
-	if mimeType == "" {
-		mimeType = "text/plain; charset=utf-8"
-	}
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", mimeType)
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", getMimeType(path, contents))
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(contents)))
 	w.Write(contents)
 }
diff --git a/api/handler_test.go b/api/handler_test.go
index 6ef3c8f..c6f68f9 100644
--- a/api/handler_test.go
+++ b/api/handler_test.go
@@ -987,6 +987,26 @@ func (s *S) TestGetFileContentsWithoutExtension(c *gocheck.C) {
 	c.Assert(recorder.Header()["Content-Length"][0], gocheck.Equals, "6")
 }
 
+func (s *S) TestGetBinaryFileContentsWithoutExtension(c *gocheck.C) {
+	url := "/repository/repo/contents?path=my-binary-file"
+	expected := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	expected.Write([]byte{10, 20, 30, 0, 9, 200})
+	repository.Retriever = &repository.MockContentRetriever{
+		ResultContents: expected.Bytes(),
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		repository.Retriever = nil
+	}()
+	request, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
+	c.Assert(err, gocheck.IsNil)
+	recorder := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	s.router.ServeHTTP(recorder, request)
+	c.Assert(recorder.Code, gocheck.Equals, http.StatusOK)
+	c.Assert(recorder.Body, gocheck.DeepEquals, expected)
+	c.Assert(recorder.Header()["Content-Type"][0], gocheck.Equals, "application/octet-stream")
+	c.Assert(recorder.Header()["Content-Length"][0], gocheck.Equals, "6")
+}
+
 func (s *S) TestGetFileContentsWithRef(c *gocheck.C) {
 	url := "/repository/repo/contents?path=README.txt&ref=other"
 	expected := "result"
@@ -1592,3 +1612,25 @@ func (s *S) TestLogsWithPath(c *gocheck.C) {
 	c.Assert(obj.Commits, gocheck.HasLen, 1)
 	c.Assert(obj.Commits[0], gocheck.DeepEquals, commits[0])
 }
+
+func (s *S) TestGetMimeTypeFromExtension(c *gocheck.C) {
+	path := "my-text-file.txt"
+	content := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	content.WriteString("")
+	c.Assert(getMimeType(path, content.Bytes()), gocheck.Equals, "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
+	path = "my-text-file.sh"
+	content = new(bytes.Buffer)
+	content.WriteString("")
+	c.Assert(getMimeType(path, content.Bytes()), gocheck.Equals, "application/x-sh")
+}
+
+func (s *S) TestGetMimeTypeFromContent(c *gocheck.C) {
+	path := "README"
+	content := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	content.WriteString("thou shalt not pass")
+	c.Assert(getMimeType(path, content.Bytes()), gocheck.Equals, "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
+	path = "my-binary-file"
+	content = new(bytes.Buffer)
+	content.Write([]byte{10, 20, 30, 0, 9, 200})
+	c.Assert(getMimeType(path, content.Bytes()), gocheck.Equals, "application/octet-stream")
+}