diff --git a/common/image.c b/common/image.c
index 94873cb6ed..d8d14e871c 100644
--- a/common/image.c
+++ b/common/image.c
@@ -202,6 +202,14 @@ struct table_info {
 	const table_entry_t *table;
 };
 
+static const struct comp_magic_map image_comp[] = {
+	{	IH_COMP_BZIP2,	"bzip2",	{0x42, 0x5a},},
+	{	IH_COMP_GZIP,	"gzip",		{0x1f, 0x8b},},
+	{	IH_COMP_LZMA,	"lzma",		{0x5d, 0x00},},
+	{	IH_COMP_LZO,	"lzo",		{0x89, 0x4c},},
+	{	IH_COMP_NONE,	"none",		{},	},
+};
+
 static const struct table_info table_info[IH_COUNT] = {
 	{ "architecture", IH_ARCH_COUNT, uimage_arch },
 	{ "compression", IH_COMP_COUNT, uimage_comp },
@@ -407,6 +415,21 @@ static void print_decomp_msg(int comp_type, int type, bool is_xip)
 		printf("   Uncompressing %s\n", name);
 }
 
+int image_decomp_type(const unsigned char *buf, ulong len)
+{
+	const struct comp_magic_map *cmagic = image_comp;
+
+	if (len < 2)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	for (; cmagic->comp_id > 0; cmagic++) {
+		if (!memcmp(buf, cmagic->magic, 2))
+			break;
+	}
+
+	return cmagic->comp_id;
+}
+
 int image_decomp(int comp, ulong load, ulong image_start, int type,
 		 void *load_buf, void *image_buf, ulong image_len,
 		 uint unc_len, ulong *load_end)
diff --git a/include/image.h b/include/image.h
index 2388c1f204..de55b2fb57 100644
--- a/include/image.h
+++ b/include/image.h
@@ -452,6 +452,15 @@ typedef struct table_entry {
 	char	*lname;		/* long (output) name to print for messages */
 } table_entry_t;
 
+/*
+ * Compression type and magic number mapping table.
+ */
+struct comp_magic_map {
+	int		comp_id;
+	const char	*name;
+	unsigned char	magic[2];
+};
+
 /*
  * get_table_entry_id() scans the translation table trying to find an
  * entry that matches the given short name. If a matching entry is
@@ -868,6 +877,18 @@ static inline int image_check_target_arch(const image_header_t *hdr)
 }
 #endif /* USE_HOSTCC */
 
+/**
+ * image_decomp_type() - Find out compression type of an image
+ *
+ * @buf:	Address in U-Boot memory where image is loaded.
+ * @len:	Length of the compressed image.
+ * @return	compression type or IH_COMP_NONE if not compressed.
+ *
+ * Note: Only following compression types are supported now.
+ * lzo, lzma, gzip, bzip2
+ */
+int image_decomp_type(const unsigned char *buf, ulong len);
+
 /**
  * image_decomp() - decompress an image
  *