diff --git a/Lib/email/encoders.py b/Lib/email/encoders.py
index 2e77e619e1d..20feb026fdf 100644
--- a/Lib/email/encoders.py
+++ b/Lib/email/encoders.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def encode_7or8bit(msg):
         # iso-2022-* is non-ASCII but still 7-bit
         charset = msg.get_charset()
         output_cset = charset and charset.output_charset
-        if output_cset and output_cset.lower().startswith('iso-2202-'):
+        if output_cset and output_cset.lower().startswith('iso-2022-'):
             msg['Content-Transfer-Encoding'] = '7bit'
         else:
             msg['Content-Transfer-Encoding'] = '8bit'
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 0ca4bd3194b..e34d63e99bf 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -312,6 +312,10 @@ C-API
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #7472: Fixed typo in email.encoders module; messages using ISO-2022
+  character sets will now consistently use a Content-Transfer-Encoding of
+  7bit rather than sometimes being marked as 8bit.
+
 - Issue #8375: test_distutils now checks if the temporary directory are still
   present before it cleans them.