diff --git a/System/OsString.hs b/System/OsString.hs
--- a/System/OsString.hs
+++ b/System/OsString.hs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
   , unsafeEncodeUtf
   , encodeWith
   , encodeFS
+  , encodeLE
   , osstr
   , empty
   , singleton
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@
   , decodeUtf
   , decodeWith
   , decodeFS
+  , decodeLE
   , unpack
 
   -- * Word types
@@ -136,14 +138,14 @@
     , encodeUtf
     , unsafeEncodeUtf
     , encodeWith
-    , encodeFS
+    , encodeLE
     , osstr
     , pack
     , empty
     , singleton
     , decodeUtf
     , decodeWith
-    , decodeFS
+    , decodeLE
     , unpack
     , snoc
     , cons
@@ -206,6 +208,38 @@
     , findIndex
     , findIndices
     )
+import qualified System.OsString.Internal as SOI
 import System.OsString.Internal.Types
     ( OsString, OsChar, coercionToPlatformTypes )
-import Prelude ()
+import Prelude (String, IO)
+
+{-# DEPRECATED encodeFS "Use System.OsPath.encodeFS from filepath" #-}
+-- | Like 'encodeUtf', except this mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which is:
+--
+-- 1. on unix, uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
+--    but PEP 383 only works properly on UTF-8 encodings, so good luck)
+-- 2. on windows does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
+--    Chars in the surrogate range
+--
+-- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
+-- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
+-- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
+encodeFS :: String -> IO OsString
+encodeFS = SOI.encodeFS
+
+{-# DEPRECATED decodeFS "Use System.OsPath.encodeFS from filepath" #-}
+-- | Like 'decodeUtf', except this mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which is:
+--
+-- 1. on unix, uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
+--    but PEP 383 only works properly on UTF-8 encodings, so good luck)
+-- 2. on windows does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
+--    Chars in the surrogate range
+--
+-- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
+-- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
+-- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
+decodeFS :: OsString -> IO String
+decodeFS = SOI.decodeFS
+
diff --git a/System/OsString/Common.hs b/System/OsString/Common.hs
--- a/System/OsString/Common.hs
+++ b/System/OsString/Common.hs
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
   , unsafeEncodeUtf
   , encodeWith
   , encodeFS
+  , encodeLE
   , fromBytes
   , pstr
   , singleton
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@
   , decodeUtf
   , decodeWith
   , decodeFS
+  , decodeLE
   , unpack
 
   -- * Word construction
@@ -242,14 +244,14 @@
 
 #ifdef WINDOWS_DOC
 -- | This mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
--- operations, which does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
 -- Chars in the surrogate range.
 --
 -- The reason this is in IO is because it unifies with the Posix counterpart,
 -- which does require IO. This is safe to 'unsafePerformIO'/'unsafeDupablePerformIO'.
 #else
 -- | This mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
--- operations, which uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
 -- but PEP 383 only works properly on UTF-8 encodings, so good luck).
 --
 -- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
@@ -258,12 +260,36 @@
 #endif
 encodeFS :: String -> IO PLATFORM_STRING
 #ifdef WINDOWS
+{-# DEPRECATED encodeFS "Use System.OsPath.Windows.encodeFS from filepath" #-}
 encodeFS = fmap WindowsString . encodeWithBaseWindows
 #else
+{-# DEPRECATED encodeFS "Use System.OsPath.Posix.encodeFS from filepath" #-}
 encodeFS = fmap PosixString . encodeWithBasePosix
 #endif
 
+#ifdef WINDOWS_DOC
+-- | This mimics the behavior of the base library when doing string
+-- operations, which does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
+-- Chars in the surrogate range.
+--
+-- The reason this is in IO is because it unifies with the Posix counterpart,
+-- which does require IO. This is safe to 'unsafePerformIO'/'unsafeDupablePerformIO'.
+#else
+-- | This mimics the behavior of the base library when doing string
+-- operations, which uses 'getLocaleEncoding'.
+--
+-- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
+-- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
+-- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
+#endif
+encodeLE :: String -> IO PLATFORM_STRING
+#ifdef WINDOWS
+encodeLE = fmap WindowsString . encodeWithBaseWindows
+#else
+encodeLE = fmap PosixString . encodeWithBasePosix'
+#endif
 
+
 #ifdef WINDOWS_DOC
 -- | Partial unicode friendly decoding.
 --
@@ -317,7 +343,29 @@
 -- which does require IO. 'unsafePerformIO'/'unsafeDupablePerformIO' are safe, however.
 #else
 -- | This mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
--- operations, which uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
+-- operations, which uses 'getLocaleEncoding'.
+--
+-- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
+-- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
+-- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
+#endif
+decodeLE :: PLATFORM_STRING -> IO String
+#ifdef WINDOWS
+decodeLE (WindowsString ba) = decodeWithBaseWindows ba
+#else
+decodeLE (PosixString ba) = decodeWithBasePosix' ba
+#endif
+
+#ifdef WINDOWS_DOC
+-- | Like 'decodeUtf', except this mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
+-- Chars in the surrogate range.
+--
+-- The reason this is in IO is because it unifies with the Posix counterpart,
+-- which does require IO. 'unsafePerformIO'/'unsafeDupablePerformIO' are safe, however.
+#else
+-- | This mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
 -- but PEP 383 only works properly on UTF-8 encodings, so good luck).
 --
 -- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
@@ -326,8 +374,10 @@
 #endif
 decodeFS :: PLATFORM_STRING -> IO String
 #ifdef WINDOWS
+{-# DEPRECATED decodeFS "Use System.OsPath.Windows.decodeFS from filepath" #-}
 decodeFS (WindowsString ba) = decodeWithBaseWindows ba
 #else
+{-# DEPRECATED decodeFS "Use System.OsPath.Posix.decodeFS from filepath" #-}
 decodeFS (PosixString ba) = decodeWithBasePosix ba
 #endif
 
diff --git a/System/OsString/Encoding.hs b/System/OsString/Encoding.hs
--- a/System/OsString/Encoding.hs
+++ b/System/OsString/Encoding.hs
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
   -- * base encoding
   , encodeWithBasePosix
   , decodeWithBasePosix
+  , encodeWithBasePosix'
+  , decodeWithBasePosix'
   , encodeWithBaseWindows
   , decodeWithBaseWindows
   )
diff --git a/System/OsString/Encoding/Internal.hs b/System/OsString/Encoding/Internal.hs
--- a/System/OsString/Encoding/Internal.hs
+++ b/System/OsString/Encoding/Internal.hs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 import Foreign.C (CStringLen)
 import Data.Char (chr)
 import Foreign
-import GHC.IO.Encoding (getFileSystemEncoding)
+import GHC.IO.Encoding (getFileSystemEncoding, getLocaleEncoding)
 
 -- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- UCS-2 LE
@@ -270,9 +270,15 @@
 withPosixString :: String -> (CStringLen -> IO a) -> IO a
 withPosixString fp f = getFileSystemEncoding >>= \enc -> GHC.withCStringLen enc fp f
 
+withPosixString' :: String -> (CStringLen -> IO a) -> IO a
+withPosixString' fp f = getLocaleEncoding >>= \enc -> GHC.withCStringLen enc fp f
+
 peekPosixString :: CStringLen -> IO String
 peekPosixString fp = getFileSystemEncoding >>= \enc -> GHC.peekCStringLen enc fp
 
+peekPosixString' :: CStringLen -> IO String
+peekPosixString' fp = getLocaleEncoding >>= \enc -> GHC.peekCStringLen enc fp
+
 -- | Decode with the given 'TextEncoding'.
 decodeWithTE :: TextEncoding -> BS8.ShortByteString -> Either EncodingException String
 decodeWithTE enc ba = unsafePerformIO $ do
@@ -289,17 +295,29 @@
 -- Encoders / decoders
 --
 
--- | This mimics the filepath decoder base uses on unix,
+-- | This mimics the filepath decoder base uses on unix (using PEP-383),
 -- with the small distinction that we're not truncating at NUL bytes (because we're not at
 -- the outer FFI layer).
 decodeWithBasePosix :: BS8.ShortByteString -> IO String
 decodeWithBasePosix ba = BS8.useAsCStringLen ba $ \fp -> peekPosixString fp
 
--- | This mimics the filepath dencoder base uses on unix,
+-- | This mimics the string decoder base uses on unix,
 -- with the small distinction that we're not truncating at NUL bytes (because we're not at
 -- the outer FFI layer).
+decodeWithBasePosix' :: BS8.ShortByteString -> IO String
+decodeWithBasePosix' ba = BS8.useAsCStringLen ba $ \fp -> peekPosixString' fp
+
+-- | This mimics the filepath encoder base uses on unix (using PEP-383),
+-- with the small distinction that we're not truncating at NUL bytes (because we're not at
+-- the outer FFI layer).
 encodeWithBasePosix :: String -> IO BS8.ShortByteString
 encodeWithBasePosix str = withPosixString str $ \cstr -> BS8.packCStringLen cstr
+
+-- | This mimics the string encoder base uses on unix,
+-- with the small distinction that we're not truncating at NUL bytes (because we're not at
+-- the outer FFI layer).
+encodeWithBasePosix' :: String -> IO BS8.ShortByteString
+encodeWithBasePosix' str = withPosixString' str $ \cstr -> BS8.packCStringLen cstr
 
 -- | This mimics the filepath decoder base uses on windows,
 -- with the small distinction that we're not truncating at NUL bytes (because we're not at
diff --git a/System/OsString/Internal.hs b/System/OsString/Internal.hs
--- a/System/OsString/Internal.hs
+++ b/System/OsString/Internal.hs
@@ -26,9 +26,11 @@
 import GHC.IO.Encoding.Failure ( CodingFailureMode(..) )
 #if defined(mingw32_HOST_OS) || defined(__MINGW32__)
 import GHC.IO.Encoding.UTF16 ( mkUTF16le )
+import System.OsString.Encoding ( encodeWithBaseWindows, decodeWithBaseWindows )
 import qualified System.OsString.Windows as PF
 #else
 import GHC.IO.Encoding.UTF8 ( mkUTF8 )
+import System.OsString.Encoding ( encodeWithBasePosix, decodeWithBasePosix )
 import qualified System.OsString.Posix as PF
 #endif
 import GHC.Stack (HasCallStack)
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@
 #endif
 
 -- | Like 'encodeUtf', except this mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
--- operations, which is:
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which is:
 --
 -- 1. on unix, uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
 --    but PEP 383 only works properly on UTF-8 encodings, so good luck)
@@ -82,9 +84,26 @@
 -- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
 -- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
 encodeFS :: String -> IO OsString
-encodeFS = fmap OsString . PF.encodeFS
+#if defined(mingw32_HOST_OS) || defined(__MINGW32__)
+encodeFS = fmap (OsString . WindowsString) . encodeWithBaseWindows
+#else
+encodeFS = fmap (OsString . PosixString) . encodeWithBasePosix
+#endif
 
+-- | Like 'encodeUtf', except this mimics the behavior of the base library when doing string
+-- operations, which is:
+--
+-- 1. on unix this uses 'getLocaleEncoding'
+-- 2. on windows does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
+--    Chars in the surrogate range
+--
+-- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
+-- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
+-- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
+encodeLE :: String -> IO OsString
+encodeLE = fmap OsString . PF.encodeLE
 
+
 -- | Partial unicode friendly decoding.
 --
 -- On windows this decodes as UTF16-LE (strictly), which is a pretty good guess.
@@ -110,7 +129,7 @@
 
 
 -- | Like 'decodeUtf', except this mimics the behavior of the base library when doing filesystem
--- operations, which is:
+-- operations (usually filepaths), which is:
 --
 -- 1. on unix, uses shady PEP 383 style encoding (based on the current locale,
 --    but PEP 383 only works properly on UTF-8 encodings, so good luck)
@@ -121,7 +140,24 @@
 -- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
 -- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
 decodeFS :: OsString -> IO String
-decodeFS (OsString x) = PF.decodeFS x
+#if defined(mingw32_HOST_OS) || defined(__MINGW32__)
+decodeFS (OsString (WindowsString x)) = decodeWithBaseWindows x
+#else
+decodeFS (OsString (PosixString x)) = decodeWithBasePosix x
+#endif
+
+-- | Like 'decodeUtf', except this mimics the behavior of the base library when doing string operations,
+-- which is:
+--
+-- 1. on unix this uses 'getLocaleEncoding'
+-- 2. on windows does permissive UTF-16 encoding, where coding errors generate
+--    Chars in the surrogate range
+--
+-- Looking up the locale requires IO. If you're not worried about calls
+-- to 'setFileSystemEncoding', then 'unsafePerformIO' may be feasible (make sure
+-- to deeply evaluate the result to catch exceptions).
+decodeLE :: OsString -> IO String
+decodeLE (OsString x) = PF.decodeLE x
 
 
 -- | Constructs an @OsString@ from a ByteString.
diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Changelog for [`os-string` package](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/os-string)
 
+## 2.0.5 *Jun 2024*
+
+* Add `decodeLE`/`encodeLE` and deprecate `decodeFS`/`encodeFS` (pointing users to `System.OsPath` instead), fixes [#19](https://github.com/haskell/os-string/issues/19)
+
 ## 2.0.4 *Jun 2024*
 
 * Use TemplateHaskellQuotes rather than TemplateHaskell extension wrt [#21](https://github.com/haskell/os-string/issues/21)
diff --git a/os-string.cabal b/os-string.cabal
--- a/os-string.cabal
+++ b/os-string.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 cabal-version:      2.2
 name:               os-string
-version:            2.0.4
+version:            2.0.5
 
 -- NOTE: Don't forget to update ./changelog.md
 license:            BSD-3-Clause