diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b9a6e4e..4353783 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ var concat = require('concat-stream');
 var removeBOM = require('remove-bom-stream');
 
 fs.createReadStream('utf8-file-with-bom.txt')
-  .pipe(removeBOM())
+  .pipe(removeBOM('utf-8'))
   .pipe(
     concat(function (result) {
       // result won't have a BOM
@@ -28,9 +28,10 @@ fs.createReadStream('utf8-file-with-bom.txt')
 
 ## API
 
-### `removeBOM()`
+### `removeBOM(encoding)`
+
+Returns a `through2` stream that will remove a BOM, if `encoding` argument is `'utf-8'` and given the data is a UTF8 Buffer with a BOM at the beginning. If `encoding` is not `'utf-8'` or does not have a BOM, the data is not changed and this becomes a normal passthrough stream.
 
-Returns a `through2` stream that will remove a BOM, given the data is a UTF8 Buffer with a BOM at the beginning. If the data is not UTF8 or does not have a BOM, the data is not changed and this becomes a normal passthrough stream.
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 59be8e9..3d11e2c 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var through = require('through2');
-var isUTF8 = require('is-utf8');
 
 var removeBom = new TextDecoder('utf-8', { ignoreBOM: false });
 
-function removeBomStream() {
+function removeBomStream(encoding) {
+  encoding = (encoding || '').toLowerCase();
+  var isUtf8 = (encoding === 'utf8' || encoding === 'utf-8');
+
   var completed = false;
   var buffer = Buffer.alloc(0);
 
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ function removeBomStream() {
 
     buffer = null;
 
-    if (isUTF8(data)) {
+    if (isUtf8) {
       return removeBom.decode(data);
     }
     return data;
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7dc04ac..be77b04 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
     "test": "nyc mocha --async-only"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "is-utf8": "^0.2.1",
     "through2": "^4.0.2"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index fb51e29..9c9756f 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ describe('removeBomStream', function () {
     }
 
     pipe(
-      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream(), concat(assert)],
+      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream('utf8'), concat(assert)],
       done
     );
   });
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ describe('removeBomStream', function () {
     }
 
     pipe(
-      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream(), concat(assert)],
+      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream('utf-8'), concat(assert)],
       done
     );
   });
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ describe('removeBomStream', function () {
       [
         fs.createReadStream(filepath),
         chunker(1),
-        removeBomStream(),
+        removeBomStream('UTF8'),
         concat(assert),
       ],
       done
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ describe('removeBomStream', function () {
     }
 
     pipe(
-      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream(), concat(assert)],
+      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream('UTF-8'), concat(assert)],
       done
     );
   });
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ describe('removeBomStream', function () {
     }
 
     pipe(
-      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream(), concat(assert)],
+      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream('utf-16be'), concat(assert)],
       done
     );
   });
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ describe('removeBomStream', function () {
     }
 
     pipe(
-      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream(), concat(assert)],
+      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream('utf-16be'), concat(assert)],
       done
     );
   });
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ describe('removeBomStream', function () {
     }
 
     pipe(
-      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream(), concat(assert)],
+      [fs.createReadStream(filepath), removeBomStream('utf-16le'), concat(assert)],
       done
     );
   });