diff -r 2de806c8b070 Lib/lib2to3/fixer_util.py
--- a/Lib/lib2to3/fixer_util.py	Wed Nov 06 22:17:39 2013 +1000
+++ b/Lib/lib2to3/fixer_util.py	Thu Nov 07 00:00:59 2013 +1000
@@ -152,6 +152,27 @@
     new.prefix = node.prefix
     return new
 
+def MethodToImportedFunctionCall(node, results, names):
+    """Returns an import statement and calls a function
+    of the module with the previous method source as the first arg:
+
+    import module
+    module.name(obj, arg)"""
+    arg = results["arg"].clone()
+    obj = results["obj"].clone()
+    newarglist = Node(syms.arglist, [obj, Leaf(token.COMMA, ", "), arg])
+    after = results["after"]
+    if after:
+        after = [n.clone() for n in after]
+    new = Node(syms.power,
+               Attr(Name(names[0]), Name(names[1])) +
+               [Node(syms.trailer,
+                     [results["lpar"].clone(),
+                      newarglist,
+                      results["rpar"].clone()])] + after)
+    new.prefix = node.prefix
+    return new
+
 
 ###########################################################
 ### Determine whether a node represents a given literal
diff -r 2de806c8b070 Lib/lib2to3/tests/test_fixers.py
--- a/Lib/lib2to3/tests/test_fixers.py	Wed Nov 06 22:17:39 2013 +1000
+++ b/Lib/lib2to3/tests/test_fixers.py	Thu Nov 07 00:00:59 2013 +1000
@@ -341,6 +341,84 @@
         s = """reload()"""
         self.unchanged(s)
 
+class Test_transform_encode(FixerTestCase):
+    fixer = "transform_encode"
+
+    def test(self):
+        b = """obj.encode('bz2')"""
+        a = """import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj, 'bz2')"""
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+    def test_str_variants(self):
+        b = """obj.encode("bz2")"""
+        a = """import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj, "bz2")"""
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+        b = """obj.encode('''bz2''')"""
+        a = """import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj, '''bz2''')"""
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+        b = '''obj.encode("""bz2""")'''
+        a = '''import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj, """bz2""")'''
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+
+    def test_comment(self):
+        b = """obj.encode('bz2') # comment"""
+        a = """import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj, 'bz2') # comment"""
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+    def test_space(self):
+        b = """obj.encode( 'bz2' )"""
+        a = """import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj,  'bz2' )"""
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+        b = """obj.encode( 'bz2')"""
+        a = """import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj,  'bz2')"""
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+        b = """obj.encode('bz2' )"""
+        a = """import codecs\ncodecs.encode(obj, 'bz2' )"""
+        self.check(b, a)
+
+    def test_unchanged(self):
+        s = """obj.encode(encoding)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode(bz2)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode('ascii')"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode('bz2', 'invalid')"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode('bz2', errors='invalid')"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode('bz2', *h)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode('bz2', *h, **i)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode('bz2', **i)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode(*h, **i)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode(*h)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode(**i)"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+        s = """obj.encode()"""
+        self.unchanged(s)
+
+
 class Test_intern(FixerTestCase):
     fixer = "intern"