diff --git a/src/ol/source/wmtssource.js b/src/ol/source/wmtssource.js
index 13ee9b4a0a..53eb1f3bcb 100644
--- a/src/ol/source/wmtssource.js
+++ b/src/ol/source/wmtssource.js
@@ -96,10 +96,17 @@ ol.source.WMTS = function(options) {
 
   // FIXME: should we guess this requestEncoding from options.url(s)
   //        structure? that would mean KVP only if a template is not provided.
-  var requestEncoding = goog.isDef(options.requestEncoding) ?
+
+  /**
+   * @private
+   * @type {ol.source.WMTSRequestEncoding}
+   */
+  this.requestEncoding_ = goog.isDef(options.requestEncoding) ?
       /** @type {ol.source.WMTSRequestEncoding} */ (options.requestEncoding) :
       ol.source.WMTSRequestEncoding.KVP;
 
+  var requestEncoding = this.requestEncoding_;
+
   // FIXME: should we create a default tileGrid?
   // we could issue a getCapabilities xhr to retrieve missing configuration
   var tileGrid = options.tileGrid;
@@ -268,6 +275,16 @@ ol.source.WMTS.prototype.getMatrixSet = function() {
 };
 
 
+/**
+ * Return the request encoding, either "KVP" or "REST".
+ * @return {ol.source.WMTSRequestEncoding} Request encoding.
+ * @api
+ */
+ol.source.WMTS.prototype.getRequestEncoding = function() {
+  return this.requestEncoding_;
+};
+
+
 /**
  * Return the style of the WMTS source.
  * @return {string} Style.
diff --git a/test/spec/ol/source/wmtssource.test.js b/test/spec/ol/source/wmtssource.test.js
index ca9ffb49f9..2943040969 100644
--- a/test/spec/ol/source/wmtssource.test.js
+++ b/test/spec/ol/source/wmtssource.test.js
@@ -209,6 +209,32 @@ describe('ol.source.WMTS', function() {
     });
 
   });
+
+  describe('#getRequestEncoding', function() {
+
+    var source;
+
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      source = new ol.source.WMTS({
+        layer: 'layer',
+        style: 'default',
+        matrixSet: 'foo',
+        requestEncoding: 'REST',
+        tileGrid: new ol.tilegrid.WMTS({
+          origin: [0, 0],
+          resolutions: [],
+          matrixIds: []
+        })
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('returns the request encoding', function() {
+      var requestEncoding = source.getRequestEncoding();
+      expect(requestEncoding).to.be.eql('REST');
+    });
+
+  });
+
 });
 
 goog.require('ol.format.WMTSCapabilities');