diff --git a/github/repos_contents.go b/github/repos_contents.go
index 113d001..84b3400 100644
--- a/github/repos_contents.go
+++ b/github/repos_contents.go
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ func (r RepositoryContent) String() string {
 }
 
 // Decode decodes the file content if it is base64 encoded.
+//
+// Deprecated: Use GetContent instead.
 func (r *RepositoryContent) Decode() ([]byte, error) {
 	if *r.Encoding != "base64" {
 		return nil, errors.New("cannot decode non-base64")
@@ -72,6 +74,27 @@ func (r *RepositoryContent) Decode() ([]byte, error) {
 	return o, nil
 }
 
+// GetContent returns the content of r, decoding it if necessary.
+func (r *RepositoryContent) GetContent() (string, error) {
+	var encoding string
+	if r.Encoding != nil {
+		encoding = *r.Encoding
+	}
+
+	switch encoding {
+	case "base64":
+		c, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(*r.Content)
+		return string(c), err
+	case "":
+		if r.Content == nil {
+			return "", nil
+		}
+		return *r.Content, nil
+	default:
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unsupported content encoding: %v", encoding)
+	}
+}
+
 // GetReadme gets the Readme file for the repository.
 //
 // GitHub API docs: http://developer.github.com/v3/repos/contents/#get-the-readme
diff --git a/github/repos_contents_test.go b/github/repos_contents_test.go
index d7f8651..543d8be 100644
--- a/github/repos_contents_test.go
+++ b/github/repos_contents_test.go
@@ -8,27 +8,91 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
-func TestDecode(t *testing.T) {
-	setup()
-	defer teardown()
-	r := RepositoryContent{Encoding: String("base64"), Content: String("aGVsbG8=")}
-	o, err := r.Decode()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("Failed to decode content.")
+func TestRepositoryContent_Decode(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		encoding, content *string // input encoding and content
+		want              string  // desired output
+		wantErr           bool    // whether an error is expected
+	}{
+		{
+			encoding: String("base64"),
+			content:  String("aGVsbG8="),
+			want:     "hello",
+			wantErr:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			encoding: String("bad"),
+			content:  String("aGVsbG8="),
+			want:     "",
+			wantErr:  true,
+		},
 	}
-	want := "hello"
-	if string(o) != want {
-		t.Errorf("RepositoryContent.Decode returned %+v, want %+v", string(o), want)
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		r := RepositoryContent{Encoding: tt.encoding, Content: tt.content}
+		o, err := r.Decode()
+		if err != nil && !tt.wantErr {
+			t.Errorf("RepositoryContent(%q, %q) returned unexpected error: %v", tt.encoding, tt.content, err)
+		}
+		if err == nil && tt.wantErr {
+			t.Errorf("RepositoryContent(%q, %q) did not return unexpected error", tt.encoding, tt.content)
+		}
+		if got, want := string(o), tt.want; got != want {
+			t.Errorf("RepositoryContent.Decode returned %+v, want %+v", got, want)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
-func TestDecodeBadEncoding(t *testing.T) {
-	setup()
-	defer teardown()
-	r := RepositoryContent{Encoding: String("bad")}
-	_, err := r.Decode()
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Errorf("Should fail to decode non-base64")
+func TestRepositoryContent_GetContent(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		encoding, content *string // input encoding and content
+		want              string  // desired output
+		wantErr           bool    // whether an error is expected
+	}{
+		{
+			encoding: String(""),
+			content:  String("hello"),
+			want:     "hello",
+			wantErr:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			encoding: nil,
+			content:  String("hello"),
+			want:     "hello",
+			wantErr:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			encoding: nil,
+			content:  nil,
+			want:     "",
+			wantErr:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			encoding: String("base64"),
+			content:  String("aGVsbG8="),
+			want:     "hello",
+			wantErr:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			encoding: String("bad"),
+			content:  String("aGVsbG8="),
+			want:     "",
+			wantErr:  true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		r := RepositoryContent{Encoding: tt.encoding, Content: tt.content}
+		got, err := r.GetContent()
+		if err != nil && !tt.wantErr {
+			t.Errorf("RepositoryContent(%q, %q) returned unexpected error: %v", tt.encoding, tt.content, err)
+		}
+		if err == nil && tt.wantErr {
+			t.Errorf("RepositoryContent(%q, %q) did not return unexpected error", tt.encoding, tt.content)
+		}
+		if want := tt.want; got != want {
+			t.Errorf("RepositoryContent.GetContent returned %+v, want %+v", got, want)
+		}
 	}
 }