diff --git a/homeassistant/components/mqtt/camera.py b/homeassistant/components/mqtt/camera.py
index e5fb8fc66b0..569d69a9ad8 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/mqtt/camera.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/mqtt/camera.py
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ class MqttCamera(MqttDiscoveryUpdate, Camera):
             self.hass, self._sub_state,
             {'state_topic': {'topic': self._config.get(CONF_TOPIC),
                              'msg_callback': message_received,
-                             'qos': self._qos}})
+                             'qos': self._qos,
+                             'encoding': None}})
 
     async def async_will_remove_from_hass(self):
         """Unsubscribe when removed."""
diff --git a/tests/components/mqtt/test_camera.py b/tests/components/mqtt/test_camera.py
index 15b4ed22378..5726a64ba11 100644
--- a/tests/components/mqtt/test_camera.py
+++ b/tests/components/mqtt/test_camera.py
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ async def test_entity_id_update(hass, mqtt_mock):
     state = hass.states.get('camera.beer')
     assert state is not None
     assert mock_mqtt.async_subscribe.call_count == 1
-    mock_mqtt.async_subscribe.assert_any_call('test-topic', ANY, 0, 'utf-8')
+    mock_mqtt.async_subscribe.assert_any_call('test-topic', ANY, 0, None)
     mock_mqtt.async_subscribe.reset_mock()
 
     registry.async_update_entity('camera.beer', new_entity_id='camera.milk')
@@ -181,4 +181,4 @@ async def test_entity_id_update(hass, mqtt_mock):
     state = hass.states.get('camera.milk')
     assert state is not None
     assert mock_mqtt.async_subscribe.call_count == 1
-    mock_mqtt.async_subscribe.assert_any_call('test-topic', ANY, 0, 'utf-8')
+    mock_mqtt.async_subscribe.assert_any_call('test-topic', ANY, 0, None)