diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a7864357..84f91260 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ## Changed
 
 - Require `--ticket-creation-time` in `quill sns pay`. (#159)
+- `--proposal-path` in the `sns make-proposal` command expects the binary encoding
+  of the proposal candid record. (#160)
 
 ## [0.3.3] - 2023-02-09
 
diff --git a/src/commands/sns/make_proposal.rs b/src/commands/sns/make_proposal.rs
index 615d05f3..57264d42 100644
--- a/src/commands/sns/make_proposal.rs
+++ b/src/commands/sns/make_proposal.rs
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ pub struct MakeProposalOpts {
     #[clap(long)]
     proposal: Option<String>,
 
-    /// Path to a file containing the proposal. The proposal must be formatted as a string
-    /// wrapped candid record.
+    /// Path to a file containing the proposal. The proposal must be the binary encoding of
+    /// the proposal candid record.
     #[clap(
         long,
         conflicts_with = "proposal",
@@ -60,14 +60,12 @@ pub fn exec(
     let neuron_subaccount = neuron_id.subaccount().map_err(Error::msg)?;
     let governance_canister_id = sns_canister_ids.governance_canister_id;
 
-    let proposal_string = if let Some(proposal) = opts.proposal {
-        proposal
+    let proposal = if let Some(proposal) = opts.proposal {
+        parse_proposal_from_candid_string(proposal)?
     } else {
-        fs::read_to_string(opts.proposal_path.unwrap())?
+        Decode!(&fs::read(opts.proposal_path.unwrap())?, Proposal)?
     };
 
-    let proposal = parse_proposal_from_candid_string(proposal_string)?;
-
     let args = Encode!(&ManageNeuron {
         subaccount: neuron_subaccount.to_vec(),
         command: Some(manage_neuron::Command::MakeProposal(proposal))
diff --git a/tests/commands/sns-make-proposal-from-file.sh b/tests/commands/sns-make-proposal-from-file.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d69b19dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/commands/sns-make-proposal-from-file.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+NEURON_ID=83a7d2b12f654ff58335e5a2512ccae0d7839c744b1807a47c96f5b9f3969069
+"$QUILL" sns make-proposal $NEURON_ID --proposal-path "outputs/sns_proposal.txt" --canister-ids-file ./sns_canister_ids.json --pem-file - | "$QUILL" send --dry-run -
+
diff --git a/tests/outputs/sns-make-proposal-from-file.txt b/tests/outputs/sns-make-proposal-from-file.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6469c146
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/outputs/sns-make-proposal-from-file.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+Sending message with
+
+  Call type:   update
+  Sender:      fdsgv-62ihb-nbiqv-xgic5-iefsv-3cscz-tmbzv-63qd5-vh43v-dqfrt-pae
+  Canister id: rrkah-fqaaa-aaaaa-aaaaq-cai
+  Method name: manage_neuron
+  Arguments:   (
+  record {
+    subaccount = blob "\83\a7\d2\b1/eO\f5\835\e5\a2Q,\ca\e0\d7\83\9ctK\18\07\a4|\96\f5\b9\f3\96\90i";
+    command = opt variant {
+      MakeProposal = record {
+        url = "https://dfinity.org";
+        title = "SNS Launch";
+        action = opt variant {
+          Motion = record {
+            motion_text = "I hereby raise the motion that the use of the SNS shall commence";
+          }
+        };
+        summary = "A motion to start the SNS";
+      }
+    };
+  },
+)
diff --git a/tests/outputs/sns_proposal.txt b/tests/outputs/sns_proposal.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0a208ce4
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/outputs/sns_proposal.txt differ