diff --git a/pkg/analyzer/lib/src/dart/analysis/file_state.dart b/pkg/analyzer/lib/src/dart/analysis/file_state.dart
index 00d6c6f..32bb30c 100644
--- a/pkg/analyzer/lib/src/dart/analysis/file_state.dart
+++ b/pkg/analyzer/lib/src/dart/analysis/file_state.dart
@@ -1083,21 +1083,25 @@
   _FileContent get(String path, bool allowCached) {
     var file = allowCached ? _pathToFile[path] : null;
     if (file == null) {
+      List<int> contentBytes;
       String content;
       bool exists;
       try {
         if (_contentOverlay != null) {
           content = _contentOverlay[path];
+          if (content != null) {
+            contentBytes = utf8.encode(content);
+          }
         }
-        content ??= _resourceProvider.getFile(path).readAsStringSync();
+        contentBytes ??= _resourceProvider.getFile(path).readAsBytesSync();
+        content = utf8.decode(contentBytes);
         exists = true;
       } catch (_) {
+        contentBytes = Uint8List(0);
         content = '';
         exists = false;
       }
 
-      List<int> contentBytes = utf8.encode(content);
-
       List<int> contentHashBytes = md5.convert(contentBytes).bytes;
       String contentHash = hex.encode(contentHashBytes);
 
diff --git a/tools/VERSION b/tools/VERSION
index 514a37f..72d2b2c 100644
--- a/tools/VERSION
+++ b/tools/VERSION
@@ -27,5 +27,5 @@
 MAJOR 2
 MINOR 12
 PATCH 0
-PRERELEASE 94
+PRERELEASE 95
 PRERELEASE_PATCH 0
\ No newline at end of file