diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 7feaca9c..cc6b6a83 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ In progress (unreleased)
   the magic field as a content encoding enumeration.
 * :gh:issue:`1430` :mod:`mitogen`: Add explicit binary Message encoding,
   marked using :data:`mitogen.core.Message.ENC_BIN`.
+* :gh:issue:`1430` :mod:`mitogen`: Send :class:`mitogen.service.FileService`
+  content raw, without pickle encoding
 
 
 v0.3.38 (2026-01-23)
diff --git a/mitogen/core.py b/mitogen/core.py
index d97c0c39..5fd44b42 100644
--- a/mitogen/core.py
+++ b/mitogen/core.py
@@ -981,6 +981,11 @@ class Message(object):
         else:
             raise ChannelError(ChannelError.remote_msg)
 
+    def decode(self, throw=True, throw_dead=True):
+        if self.enc == self.ENC_PKL: return self.unpickle(throw, throw_dead)
+        if self.enc == self.ENC_BIN: return self.data
+        raise ValueError('Invalid explicit enc: %r' % (self.enc,))
+
     def unpickle(self, throw=True, throw_dead=True):
         """
         Unpickle :attr:`data`, optionally raising any exceptions present.
@@ -1054,12 +1059,12 @@ class Sender(object):
         self.context = context
         self.dst_handle = dst_handle
 
-    def send(self, data):
+    def send(self, data, enc=Message.ENC_PKL):
         """
         Send `data` to the remote end.
         """
-        _vv and IOLOG.debug('%r.send(%r..)', self, repr(data)[:100])
-        self.context.send(Message.pickled(data, handle=self.dst_handle))
+        _vv and IOLOG.debug('%r.send(%*r.., enc=%s)', self, 100, data, enc)
+        self.context.send(Message.encoded(data, enc, handle=self.dst_handle))
 
     explicit_close_msg = 'Sender was explicitly closed'
 
diff --git a/mitogen/service.py b/mitogen/service.py
index b852f44d..d27f75f6 100644
--- a/mitogen/service.py
+++ b/mitogen/service.py
@@ -974,14 +974,8 @@ class FileService(Service):
 
     # The IO loop pumps 128KiB chunks. An ideal message is a multiple of this,
     # odd-sized messages waste one tiny write() per message on the trailer.
-    # Therefore subtract 10 bytes pickle overhead + 24 bytes header.
-    IO_SIZE = mitogen.core.CHUNK_SIZE - (mitogen.core.Message.HEADER_LEN + (
-        len(
-            mitogen.core.Message.pickled(
-                mitogen.core.Blob(b(' ') * mitogen.core.CHUNK_SIZE)
-            ).data
-        ) - mitogen.core.CHUNK_SIZE
-    ))
+    # Therefore subtract encoding overhead and Message header size.
+    IO_SIZE = mitogen.core.CHUNK_SIZE - mitogen.core.Message.HEADER_LEN
 
     def _schedule_pending_unlocked(self, state):
         """
@@ -997,7 +991,7 @@ class FileService(Service):
             s = fp.read(self.IO_SIZE)
             if s:
                 state.unacked += len(s)
-                sender.send(mitogen.core.Blob(s))
+                sender.send(s, mitogen.core.Message.ENC_BIN)
             else:
                 # File is done. Cause the target's receive loop to exit by
                 # closing the sender, close the file, and remove the job entry.
@@ -1145,8 +1139,8 @@ class FileService(Service):
         )
 
         received_bytes = 0
-        for chunk in recv:
-            s = chunk.unpickle()
+        for msg in recv:
+            s = msg.decode()
             LOG.debug('get_file(%r): received %d bytes', path, len(s))
             context.call_service_async(
                 service_name=cls.name(),