diff --git a/asyncgit/src/error.rs b/asyncgit/src/error.rs
index 1ba229fe..a22c9dbd 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/error.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/error.rs
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ pub enum Error {
     #[error("git: can\u{2019}t run blame on a binary file")]
     NoBlameOnBinaryFile,
 
+    #[error("binary file")]
+    BinaryFile,
+
     #[error("io error:{0}")]
     Io(#[from] std::io::Error),
 
diff --git a/asyncgit/src/sync/tree.rs b/asyncgit/src/sync/tree.rs
index 38fa634c..68c49b59 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/sync/tree.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/sync/tree.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 use super::{utils::bytes2string, CommitId};
-use crate::{error::Result, sync::utils::repo};
+use crate::{
+    error::{Error, Result},
+    sync::utils::repo,
+};
 use git2::{Oid, Repository, Tree};
 use scopetime::scope_time;
 use std::{
@@ -80,10 +83,10 @@ pub fn tree_file_content(
     let blob = repo.find_blob(file.id)?;
 
     if blob.is_binary() {
-        return Ok(String::new());
+        return Err(Error::BinaryFile);
     }
 
-    let content = String::from_utf8(blob.content().into())?;
+    let content = String::from_utf8_lossy(blob.content()).to_string();
 
     Ok(content)
 }
diff --git a/src/components/revision_files.rs b/src/components/revision_files.rs
index cffea8d5..6a5cf11b 100644
--- a/src/components/revision_files.rs
+++ b/src/components/revision_files.rs
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ impl RevisionFilesComponent {
         })
     }
 
-    fn selection_changed(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
+    fn selection_changed(&mut self) {
         if let Some(file) = self.tree.selected_file().map(|file| {
             file.full_path()
                 .strip_prefix("./")
@@ -146,26 +146,31 @@ impl RevisionFilesComponent {
                 .unwrap_or_default();
 
             if !already_loaded {
-                self.load_file(file)?;
+                self.load_file(file);
             }
         } else {
             self.current_file = None;
         }
-
-        Ok(())
     }
 
-    fn load_file(&mut self, path: String) -> Result<()> {
+    fn load_file(&mut self, path: String) {
         if let Some(item) = self
             .files
             .iter()
             .find(|f| f.path.ends_with(Path::new(&path)))
         {
-            let content = sync::tree_file_content(CWD, item)?;
-            self.current_file = Some((path, content));
+            match sync::tree_file_content(CWD, item) {
+                Ok(content) => {
+                    self.current_file = Some((path, content))
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    self.current_file = Some((
+                        path,
+                        format!("error loading file: {}", e),
+                    ))
+                }
+            }
         }
-
-        Ok(())
     }
 }
 
@@ -300,7 +305,7 @@ impl Component for RevisionFilesComponent {
                     &self.key_config,
                     key,
                 ) {
-                    self.selection_changed()?;
+                    self.selection_changed();
                     true
                 } else {
                     false