diff --git a/lib/msf/core/encoder.rb b/lib/msf/core/encoder.rb
index b1b17cab23..b8ebff5635 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/encoder.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/encoder.rb
@@ -308,7 +308,12 @@ class Encoder < Module
 			while (offset < state.buf.length)
 				block = state.buf[offset, decoder_block_size]
 
-				state.encoded += encode_block(state,
+				# Append here (String#<<) instead of creating a new string with
+				# String#+ because the allocations kill performance with large
+				# buffers. This isn't usually noticeable on most shellcode, but
+				# when doing stage encoding on meterpreter (~750k bytes) the
+				# difference is 2 orders of magnitude.
+				state.encoded << encode_block(state,
 						block + ("\x00" * (decoder_block_size - block.length)))
 
 				offset += decoder_block_size
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/encoder/xor.rb b/lib/msf/core/encoder/xor.rb
index 69b6db7d30..4c351ac45e 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/encoder/xor.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/encoder/xor.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ class Msf::Encoder::Xor < Msf::Encoder
 	# Finds keys that are incompatible with the supplied bad character list.
 	#
 	def find_bad_keys(buf, badchars)
+		# Short circuit if there are no badchars
+		return super if badchars.length == 0
+
 		bad_keys = Array.new(decoder_key_size) { Hash.new }
 		byte_idx = 0
 
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/payload/stager.rb b/lib/msf/core/payload/stager.rb
index 45674bc0f1..7a66ae3203 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/payload/stager.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/payload/stager.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: binary -*-
 require 'msf/core'
+require 'msf/core/option_container'
 
 ###
 #
@@ -8,6 +9,17 @@ require 'msf/core'
 ###
 module Msf::Payload::Stager
 
+	def initialize(info={})
+		super
+
+		register_advanced_options(
+			[
+				Msf::OptBool.new("EnableStageEncoding", [ false, "Encode the second stage payload", false ]),
+				Msf::OptString.new("StageEncoder", [ false, "Encoder to use if EnableStageEncoding is set", nil ]),
+			], Msf::Payload::Stager)
+
+	end
+
 	#
 	# Sets the payload type to a stager.
 	#
@@ -65,6 +77,11 @@ module Msf::Payload::Stager
 		true
 	end
 
+	def encode_stage?
+		# Convert to string in case it hasn't been normalized
+		!!(datastore['EnableStageEncoding'].to_s == "true")
+	end
+
 	#
 	# Generates the stage payload and substitutes all offsets.
 	#
@@ -75,8 +92,8 @@ module Msf::Payload::Stager
 		# Substitute variables in the stage
 		substitute_vars(p, stage_offsets) if (stage_offsets)
 
-		# Encode the stage of stage encoding is enabled
-		#p = encode_stage(p)
+		# Encode the stage if stage encoding is enabled
+		p = encode_stage(p)
 
 		return p
 	end
@@ -101,14 +118,15 @@ module Msf::Payload::Stager
 				p = (self.stage_prefix || '') + p
 			end
 
+			sending_msg = "Sending #{encode_stage? ? "encoded ":""}stage"
+			sending_msg << " (#{p.length} bytes)"
 			# The connection should always have a peerhost (even if it's a
 			# tunnel), but if it doesn't, erroring out here means losing the
 			# session, so make sure it does, just to be safe.
 			if conn.respond_to? :peerhost
-				print_status("Sending stage (#{p.length} bytes) to #{conn.peerhost}")
-			else
-				print_status("Sending stage (#{p.length} bytes)")
+				sending_msg << " to #{conn.peerhost}"
 			end
+			print_status(sending_msg)
 
 			# Send the stage
 			conn.put(p)
@@ -146,15 +164,20 @@ module Msf::Payload::Stager
 
 	# Encodes the stage prior to transmission
 	def encode_stage(stg)
+		return stg unless encode_stage?
 
-		# If DisableStageEncoding is set, we do not encode the stage
-		return stg if datastore['DisableStageEncoding'] =~ /^(y|1|t)/i
+		if datastore["StageEncoder"].nil? or datastore["StageEncoder"].empty?
+			stage_enc_mod = nil
+		else
+			stage_enc_mod = datastore["StageEncoder"]
+		end
 
 		# Generate an encoded version of the stage.  We tell the encoding system
 		# to save edi to ensure that it does not get clobbered.
 		encp = Msf::EncodedPayload.create(
 			self,
 			'Raw'           => stg,
+			'Encoder'       => stage_enc_mod,
 			'SaveRegisters' => ['edi'],
 			'ForceEncode'   => true)
 
diff --git a/lib/msf/ui/console/command_dispatcher/core.rb b/lib/msf/ui/console/command_dispatcher/core.rb
index e1d17f3d92..b1deb09058 100644
--- a/lib/msf/ui/console/command_dispatcher/core.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/ui/console/command_dispatcher/core.rb
@@ -2365,6 +2365,7 @@ class Core
 			return option_values_payloads() if opt.upcase == 'PAYLOAD'
 			return option_values_targets()  if opt.upcase == 'TARGET'
 			return option_values_nops()     if opt.upcase == 'NOPS'
+			return option_values_encoders() if opt.upcase == 'StageEncoder'
 		end
 
 		# Well-known option names specific to auxiliaries
diff --git a/modules/encoders/x86/shikata_ga_nai.rb b/modules/encoders/x86/shikata_ga_nai.rb
index 6cfeec98ea..ffc602db84 100644
--- a/modules/encoders/x86/shikata_ga_nai.rb
+++ b/modules/encoders/x86/shikata_ga_nai.rb
@@ -111,10 +111,10 @@ protected
 
 		# Clear the counter register
 		clear_register = Rex::Poly::LogicalBlock.new('clear_register',
-			"\x31\xc9",
-			"\x29\xc9",
-			"\x33\xc9",
-			"\x2b\xc9")
+			"\x31\xc9",  # xor ecx,ecx
+			"\x29\xc9",  # sub ecx,ecx
+			"\x33\xc9",  # xor ecx,ecx
+			"\x2b\xc9")  # sub ecx,ecx
 
 		# Initialize the counter after zeroing it
 		init_counter = Rex::Poly::LogicalBlock.new('init_counter')
@@ -126,8 +126,10 @@ protected
 
 		if (length <= 255)
 			init_counter.add_perm("\xb1" + [ length ].pack('C'))
-		else
+		elsif (length <= 65536)
 			init_counter.add_perm("\x66\xb9" + [ length ].pack('v'))
+		else
+			init_counter.add_perm("\xb9" + [ length ].pack('V'))
 		end
 
 		# Key initialization block