diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/encoding/EncodingManagerImpl.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/encoding/EncodingManagerImpl.java
index 441fa53b41a2..1fdfc778a17f 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/encoding/EncodingManagerImpl.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/encoding/EncodingManagerImpl.java
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ public class EncodingManagerImpl extends EncodingManager implements PersistentSt
   @Override
   public boolean isUseUTFGuessing(final VirtualFile virtualFile) {
     Project project = guessProject(virtualFile);
-    return project != null && EncodingProjectManager.getInstance(project).isUseUTFGuessing(virtualFile);
+    return project == null || EncodingProjectManager.getInstance(project).isUseUTFGuessing(virtualFile);
   }
 
   @Override