diff --git a/src/encoding_binding.cc b/src/encoding_binding.cc
index f68dd9522a0f69..1361c41a5491e1 100644
--- a/src/encoding_binding.cc
+++ b/src/encoding_binding.cc
@@ -356,20 +356,32 @@ void BindingData::DecodeUTF8(const FunctionCallbackInfo<Value>& args) {
   const char* data = buffer.data();
   size_t length = buffer.length();
 
+  if (!ignore_bom && length >= 3) {
+    if (memcmp(data, "\xEF\xBB\xBF", 3) == 0) {
+      data += 3;
+      length -= 3;
+    }
+  }
+
   if (has_fatal) {
+    // Are we perhaps ASCII? Then we won't have to check for UTF-8
+    if (!simdutf::validate_ascii_with_errors(data, length).error) {
+      Local<Value> ret;
+      if (StringBytes::Encode(env->isolate(), data, length, LATIN1)
+              .ToLocal(&ret)) {
+        args.GetReturnValue().Set(ret);
+      }
+      return;
+    }
+
     auto result = simdutf::validate_utf8_with_errors(data, length);
 
     if (result.error) {
       return node::THROW_ERR_ENCODING_INVALID_ENCODED_DATA(
           env->isolate(), "The encoded data was not valid for encoding utf-8");
     }
-  }
 
-  if (!ignore_bom && length >= 3) {
-    if (memcmp(data, "\xEF\xBB\xBF", 3) == 0) {
-      data += 3;
-      length -= 3;
-    }
+    // TODO(chalker): save on utf8 validity recheck in StringBytes::Encode()
   }
 
   if (length == 0) return args.GetReturnValue().SetEmptyString();
diff --git a/src/string_bytes.cc b/src/string_bytes.cc
index 03b5fd7ebe3816..c1a446b79fda3a 100644
--- a/src/string_bytes.cc
+++ b/src/string_bytes.cc
@@ -531,6 +531,24 @@ MaybeLocal<Value> StringBytes::Encode(Isolate* isolate,
 
     case UTF8: {
       buflen = keep_buflen_in_range(buflen);
+
+      // ASCII fast path
+      // TODO(chalker): remove when String::NewFromUtf8 is fast enough itself
+      // This is cheap compared to the benefits though
+      if (!simdutf::validate_ascii_with_errors(buf, buflen).error) {
+        return ExternOneByteString::NewFromCopy(isolate, buf, buflen);
+      }
+
+      if (simdutf::validate_utf8(buf, buflen)) {
+        // We know that we are non-ASCII (and are unlikely Latin1), use 2-byte
+        // In the most likely case of valid UTF-8, we can use this fast impl
+        size_t u16size = simdutf::utf16_length_from_utf8(buf, buflen);
+        uint16_t* dst = node::UncheckedMalloc<uint16_t>(u16size);
+        size_t utf16len = simdutf::convert_valid_utf8_to_utf16(
+              buf, buflen, reinterpret_cast<char16_t*>(dst));
+        return ExternTwoByteString::New(isolate, dst, utf16len);
+      }
+
       val =
           String::NewFromUtf8(isolate, buf, v8::NewStringType::kNormal, buflen);
       Local<String> str;