diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3012b25ce2..0f72eba7a5 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ Executables:
 
 * ImageMagick - Convert, Edit, Or Compose Bitmap Images
 * tesseract-ocr - An OCR Engine that was developed at HP Labs between 1985 and 1995... and now at Google.
+* libmagic
 
 License
 -------
diff --git a/apps/documents/models.py b/apps/documents/models.py
index b525750523..0cf858fd69 100755
--- a/apps/documents/models.py
+++ b/apps/documents/models.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import os
 import mimetypes
 from datetime import datetime
 import sys
+from python_magic import magic
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import models
@@ -34,10 +35,7 @@ def get_filename_from_uuid(instance, filename, directory=STORAGE_DIRECTORY_NAME)
     return '%s/%s' % (directory, instance.uuid)
 
 def populate_file_extension_and_mimetype(instance, filename):
-    # First populate the file extension and mimetype
-    instance.file_mimetype, encoding = mimetypes.guess_type(filename)
-    if not instance.file_mimetype:
-         instance.file_mimetype = u'unknown'
+    # First populate the file extension
     filename, extension = os.path.splitext(filename)
     instance.file_filename = filename
     #remove prefix '.'
@@ -59,6 +57,7 @@ class Document(models.Model):
     file = models.FileField(upload_to=get_filename_from_uuid, storage=STORAGE_BACKEND(), verbose_name=_(u'file'))
     uuid = models.CharField(max_length=48, default=UUID_FUNCTION(), blank=True, editable=False)
     file_mimetype = models.CharField(max_length=64, default='', editable=False)
+    file_mime_encoding = models.CharField(max_length=64, default='', editable=False)
     #FAT filename can be up to 255 using LFN
     file_filename = models.CharField(max_length=64, default='', editable=False)
     file_extension = models.CharField(max_length=16, default='', editable=False)
@@ -78,6 +77,21 @@ class Document(models.Model):
     def get_fullname(self):
         return os.extsep.join([self.file_filename, self.file_extension])
         
+    def update_mimetype(self):
+        try:
+            mime = magic.Magic(mime=True)
+            self.file_mimetype = mime.from_buffer(self.read())
+            mime_encoding = magic.Magic(mime_encoding=True)
+            self.file_mime_encoding = mime_encoding.from_buffer(self.read())
+        except:
+            self.file_mimetype = u'unknown'
+            self.file_mime_encoding = u'unknown'
+        finally:
+            self.save()
+      
+    def read(self, count=1024):
+        return self.file.storage.open(self.file.url).read(count)
+        
     @models.permalink
     def get_absolute_url(self):
         return ('document_view', [self.id])
diff --git a/apps/documents/views.py b/apps/documents/views.py
index 921c9c7cba..5570c1ba1e 100755
--- a/apps/documents/views.py
+++ b/apps/documents/views.py
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ def upload_document_with_type(request, document_type_id, multiple=True):
             if local_form.is_valid():
                 instance = local_form.save()
                 instance.update_checksum()
+                instance.update_mimetype()
                 if 'document_type_available_filenames' in local_form.cleaned_data:
                     if local_form.cleaned_data['document_type_available_filenames']:
                         instance.file_filename = local_form.cleaned_data['document_type_available_filenames'].filename
@@ -147,6 +148,7 @@ def upload_document_with_type(request, document_type_id, multiple=True):
                         document = Document(file=staging_file.upload(), document_type=document_type)
                         document.save()
                         document.update_checksum()
+                        document.update_mimetype()
                     except Exception, e:
                         messages.error(request, e)   
                     else:
@@ -224,6 +226,7 @@ def document_view(request, document_id):
         {'label':_(u'Filename'), 'field':'file_filename'},
         {'label':_(u'File extension'), 'field':'file_extension'},
         {'label':_(u'File mimetype'), 'field':'file_mimetype'},
+        {'label':_(u'File mime encoding'), 'field':'file_mime_encoding'},
         {'label':_(u'File size'), 'field':lambda x: pretty_size(x.file.storage.size(x.file.path)) if x.exists() else '-'},
         {'label':_(u'Exists in storage'), 'field':'exists'},
         {'label':_(u'Date added'), 'field':lambda x: x.date_added.date()},
diff --git a/docs/Changelog.txt b/docs/Changelog.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a21606454
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/Changelog.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+* Added python-magic for smarter MIME type detection (https://github.com/ahupp/python-magic)
+* Added a new Document model field: file_mime_encoding
diff --git a/modules/__init__.py b/modules/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/README b/modules/python_magic/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5b438b7db8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/python_magic/README
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+= python-magic =
+
+Adam Hupp <adam at hupp.org>
+
+Distributed under the PSF License: http://www.python.org/psf/license/
+
+python-magic is a simple wrapper for libmagic.  libmagic identifies
+file types according to their headers.  It is the core of the Unix
+"file" command.
+
+= Installation =
+
+To build and install run:
+
+# python setup.py install
+
+= Installation on Win32 =
+
+You need magic1.dll from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/, grab the
+binaries and dependencies ZIP-file, extract magic1.dll, regex2.dll
+and zlib1.dll and put it in C:\Windows\System32. You also need a 
+magic file from Linux, compatible with file version 5.0.
+
+To build and install run:
+
+# python setup.py install
+
+= Example Usage =
+
+>>> import magic
+>>> m = magic.Magic()
+>>> m.from_file("testdata/test.pdf")
+'PDF document, version 1.2'
+>>> m.from_buffer(open("testdata/test.pdf").read(1024))
+'PDF document, version 1.2'
+
+# For MIME types
+>>> mime = magic.Magic(mime=True)
+>>> mime.from_file("testdata/test.pdf")
+'application/pdf'
+>>>
+
+# For MIME encoding
+>>> mime_encoding = magic.Magic(mime_encoding=True)
+>>> mime_encoding.from_file("testdata/text-iso8859-1.txt")
+'iso-8859-1'
+>>>
+
+= Contributors =
+
+Thanks to these folks on github who submitted features and bugfixes.
+
+NicolasDelaby
+lukenowak
+FlaPer87
+SimpleSeb
+tehmaze
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/__init__.py b/modules/python_magic/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/magic.py b/modules/python_magic/magic.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..53a91fd473
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/python_magic/magic.py
@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+"""
+magic is a wrapper around the libmagic file identification library.
+
+See README for more information.
+
+Usage:
+
+>>> import magic
+>>> magic.from_file("testdata/test.pdf")
+'PDF document, version 1.2'
+>>> magic.from_file("testdata/test.pdf", mime=True)
+'application/pdf'
+>>> magic.from_buffer(open("testdata/test.pdf").read(1024))
+'PDF document, version 1.2'
+>>>
+
+
+"""
+
+import os.path
+import ctypes
+import ctypes.util
+
+from ctypes import c_char_p, c_int, c_size_t, c_void_p
+
+class MagicException(Exception): pass
+
+class Magic:
+    """
+    Magic is a wrapper around the libmagic C library.  
+    
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, mime=False, magic_file=None, mime_encoding=False):
+        """
+        Create a new libmagic wrapper.
+
+        mime - if True, mimetypes are returned instead of textual descriptions
+        mime_encoding - if True, codec is returned
+        magic_file - use a mime database other than the system default
+        
+        """
+        flags = MAGIC_NONE
+        if mime:
+            flags |= MAGIC_MIME
+        elif mime_encoding:
+            flags |= MAGIC_MIME_ENCODING
+
+        self.cookie = magic_open(flags)
+
+        magic_load(self.cookie, magic_file)
+
+
+    def from_buffer(self, buf):
+        """
+        Identify the contents of `buf`
+        """
+        return magic_buffer(self.cookie, buf)
+
+    def from_file(self, filename):
+        """
+        Identify the contents of file `filename`
+        raises IOError if the file does not exist
+        """
+
+        if not os.path.exists(filename):
+            raise IOError("File does not exist: " + filename)
+        
+        return magic_file(self.cookie, filename)
+
+    def __del__(self):
+        if self.cookie:
+            magic_close(self.cookie)
+            self.cookie = None
+
+_magic_mime = None
+_magic = None
+
+def _get_magic_mime():
+    global _magic_mime
+    if not _magic_mime:
+        _magic_mime = Magic(mime=True)
+    return _magic_mime
+
+def _get_magic():
+    global _magic
+    if not _magic:
+        _magic = Magic()
+    return _magic
+
+def _get_magic_type(mime):
+    if mime:
+        return _get_magic_mime()
+    else:
+        return _get_magic()
+
+def from_file(filename, mime=False):
+    m = _get_magic_type(mime)
+    return m.from_file(filename)
+
+def from_buffer(buffer, mime=False):
+    m = _get_magic_type(mime)
+    return m.from_buffer(buffer)
+
+
+
+
+libmagic = None
+# Let's try to find magic or magic1
+dll = ctypes.util.find_library('magic') or ctypes.util.find_library('magic1')
+
+# This is necessary because find_library returns None if it doesn't find the library
+if dll:
+    libmagic = ctypes.CDLL(dll)
+
+if not libmagic or not libmagic._name:
+    import sys
+    platform_to_lib = {'darwin': '/opt/local/lib/libmagic.dylib',
+                       'win32': 'magic1.dll'}
+    if sys.platform in platform_to_lib:
+        try:
+            libmagic = ctypes.CDLL(platform_to_lib[sys.platform])
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+
+if not libmagic or not libmagic._name:
+    # It is better to raise an ImportError since we are importing magic module
+    raise ImportError('failed to find libmagic.  Check your installation')
+
+magic_t = ctypes.c_void_p
+
+def errorcheck(result, func, args):
+    err = magic_error(args[0])
+    if err is not None:
+        raise MagicException(err)
+    else:
+        return result
+
+magic_open = libmagic.magic_open
+magic_open.restype = magic_t
+magic_open.argtypes = [c_int]
+
+magic_close = libmagic.magic_close
+magic_close.restype = None
+magic_close.argtypes = [magic_t]
+
+magic_error = libmagic.magic_error
+magic_error.restype = c_char_p
+magic_error.argtypes = [magic_t]
+
+magic_errno = libmagic.magic_errno
+magic_errno.restype = c_int
+magic_errno.argtypes = [magic_t]
+
+magic_file = libmagic.magic_file
+magic_file.restype = c_char_p
+magic_file.argtypes = [magic_t, c_char_p]
+magic_file.errcheck = errorcheck
+
+
+_magic_buffer = libmagic.magic_buffer
+_magic_buffer.restype = c_char_p
+_magic_buffer.argtypes = [magic_t, c_void_p, c_size_t]
+_magic_buffer.errcheck = errorcheck
+
+
+def magic_buffer(cookie, buf):
+    return _magic_buffer(cookie, buf, len(buf))
+
+
+magic_load = libmagic.magic_load
+magic_load.restype = c_int
+magic_load.argtypes = [magic_t, c_char_p]
+magic_load.errcheck = errorcheck
+
+magic_setflags = libmagic.magic_setflags
+magic_setflags.restype = c_int
+magic_setflags.argtypes = [magic_t, c_int]
+
+magic_check = libmagic.magic_check
+magic_check.restype = c_int
+magic_check.argtypes = [magic_t, c_char_p]
+
+magic_compile = libmagic.magic_compile
+magic_compile.restype = c_int
+magic_compile.argtypes = [magic_t, c_char_p]
+
+
+
+MAGIC_NONE = 0x000000 # No flags
+
+MAGIC_DEBUG = 0x000001 # Turn on debugging
+
+MAGIC_SYMLINK = 0x000002 # Follow symlinks
+
+MAGIC_COMPRESS = 0x000004 # Check inside compressed files
+
+MAGIC_DEVICES = 0x000008 # Look at the contents of devices
+
+MAGIC_MIME = 0x000010 # Return a mime string
+
+MAGIC_MIME_ENCODING = 0x000400 # Return the MIME encoding
+
+MAGIC_CONTINUE = 0x000020 # Return all matches
+
+MAGIC_CHECK = 0x000040 # Print warnings to stderr
+
+MAGIC_PRESERVE_ATIME = 0x000080 # Restore access time on exit
+
+MAGIC_RAW = 0x000100 # Don't translate unprintable chars
+
+MAGIC_ERROR = 0x000200 # Handle ENOENT etc as real errors
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_COMPRESS = 0x001000 # Don't check for compressed files
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_TAR = 0x002000 # Don't check for tar files
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_SOFT = 0x004000 # Don't check magic entries
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_APPTYPE = 0x008000 # Don't check application type
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_ELF = 0x010000 # Don't check for elf details
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_ASCII = 0x020000 # Don't check for ascii files
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_TROFF = 0x040000 # Don't check ascii/troff
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_FORTRAN = 0x080000 # Don't check ascii/fortran
+
+MAGIC_NO_CHECK_TOKENS = 0x100000 # Don't check ascii/tokens
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/setup.py b/modules/python_magic/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7666efa0dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/python_magic/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+from setuptools import setup, Extension
+#from distutils.core import setup, Extension
+
+setup(name='python-magic',
+      description='File type identification using libmagic',
+      author='Adam Hupp',
+      author_email='adam@hupp.org',
+      url="http://github.com/ahupp/python-magic",
+      version='0.4.0',
+      py_modules=['magic'],
+      long_description="""This module uses ctypes to access the libmagic file type
+identification library.  It makes use of the local magic database and
+supports both textual and MIME-type output.
+""",
+      keywords="mime magic file",
+      license="PSF",
+      )
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/test.py b/modules/python_magic/test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d822f68194
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/python_magic/test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+
+import os.path
+import unittest
+import random
+from StringIO import StringIO
+from os import path
+from magic import Magic, MagicException
+
+testfile = [
+    ("magic.pyc", "python 2.4 byte-compiled", "application/octet-stream"),
+    ("test.pdf", "PDF document, version 1.2", "application/pdf"),
+    ("test.gz", 'gzip compressed data, was "test", from Unix, last modified: '
+     'Sat Jun 28 18:32:52 2008', "application/x-gzip"),
+    ("text.txt", "ASCII text", "text/plain"),
+    ]
+
+testFileEncoding = [('text-iso8859-1.txt', 'iso-8859-1')]
+
+class TestMagic(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    mime = False
+    
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.m = Magic(mime=self.mime)
+
+    def testFileTypes(self):
+        for filename, desc, mime in testfile:
+            filename = path.join(path.dirname(__file__),
+                                 "testdata",
+                                 filename)
+            if self.mime:
+                target = mime
+            else:
+                target = desc
+                
+            self.assertEqual(target, self.m.from_buffer(open(filename).read(1024)))
+            self.assertEqual(target, self.m.from_file(filename), filename)
+        
+
+    def testErrors(self):
+        self.assertRaises(IOError, self.m.from_file, "nonexistent")
+        self.assertRaises(MagicException, Magic, magic_file="noneexistent")
+        os.environ['MAGIC'] = '/nonexistetn'
+        self.assertRaises(MagicException, Magic)
+        del os.environ['MAGIC']
+
+class TestMagicMime(TestMagic):
+    mime = True
+
+class TestMagicMimeEncoding(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.m = Magic(mime_encoding=True)
+
+    def testFileEncoding(self):
+        for filename, encoding in testFileEncoding:
+            filename = path.join(path.dirname(__file__),
+                                 "testdata",
+                                 filename)
+            self.assertEqual(encoding, self.m.from_buffer(open(filename).read(1024)))
+            self.assertEqual(encoding, self.m.from_file(filename), filename)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
+    
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/testdata/test.gz b/modules/python_magic/testdata/test.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d847dd99d
Binary files /dev/null and b/modules/python_magic/testdata/test.gz differ
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/testdata/test.pdf b/modules/python_magic/testdata/test.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b986617b22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/python_magic/testdata/test.pdf
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+%PDF-1.2
+7 0 obj
+[5 0 R/XYZ 111.6 757.86]
+endobj
+13 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(About this document)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.1.1)
+>>
+/Parent 12 0 R
+/Next 14 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+15 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Compiling with GHC)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsubsection.1.2.1)
+>>
+/Parent 14 0 R
+/Next 16 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+16 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Compiling with Hugs)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsubsection.1.2.2)
+>>
+/Parent 14 0 R
+/Prev 15 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+14 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Compatibility)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.1.2)
+>>
+/Parent 12 0 R
+/Prev 13 0 R
+/First 15 0 R
+/Last 16 0 R
+/Count -2
+/Next 17 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+17 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Reporting bugs)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.1.3)
+>>
+/Parent 12 0 R
+/Prev 14 0 R
+/Next 18 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+18 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(History)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.1.4)
+>>
+/Parent 12 0 R
+/Prev 17 0 R
+/Next 19 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+19 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(License)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.1.5)
+>>
+/Parent 12 0 R
+/Prev 18 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+12 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Introduction)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(section.1)
+>>
+/Parent 11 0 R
+/First 13 0 R
+/Last 19 0 R
+/Count -5
+/Next 20 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+21 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Running a parser)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.2.1)
+>>
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+>>
+endobj
+22 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Sequence and choice)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.2.2)
+>>
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+/Next 23 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+23 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Predictive parsers)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.2.3)
+>>
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+/Prev 22 0 R
+/Next 24 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+24 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Adding semantics)
+/A<<
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+/D(subsection.2.4)
+>>
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+/Next 25 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+25 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Sequences and seperators)
+/A<<
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+/D(subsection.2.5)
+>>
+/Parent 20 0 R
+/Prev 24 0 R
+/Next 26 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+26 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Improving error messages)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.2.6)
+>>
+/Parent 20 0 R
+/Prev 25 0 R
+/Next 27 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+27 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Expressions)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.2.7)
+>>
+/Parent 20 0 R
+/Prev 26 0 R
+/Next 28 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+28 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Lexical analysis)
+/A<<
+/S/GoTo
+/D(subsection.2.8)
+>>
+/Parent 20 0 R
+/Prev 27 0 R
+/Next 29 0 R
+>>
+endobj
+30 0 obj
+<<
+/Title(Lexeme parsers
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/testdata/text-iso8859-1.txt b/modules/python_magic/testdata/text-iso8859-1.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..524a1d0cf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/python_magic/testdata/text-iso8859-1.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+This is a web page encoded in iso-8859-1
+יטאשפגןמ
diff --git a/modules/python_magic/testdata/text.txt b/modules/python_magic/testdata/text.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..476f506d8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/python_magic/testdata/text.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Hello, World!
+