diff --git a/hw/core/loader.c b/hw/core/loader.c
index 1a53f0f..193f0f8 100644
--- a/hw/core/loader.c
+++ b/hw/core/loader.c
@@ -577,6 +577,54 @@
     return load_uboot_image(filename, NULL, &addr, NULL, IH_TYPE_RAMDISK);
 }
 
+/* This simply prevents g_malloc in the function below from allocating
+ * a huge amount of memory, by placing a limit on the maximum
+ * uncompressed image size that load_image_gzipped will read.
+ */
+#define LOAD_IMAGE_MAX_GUNZIP_BYTES (256 << 20)
+
+/* Load a gzip-compressed kernel. */
+int load_image_gzipped(const char *filename, hwaddr addr, uint64_t max_sz)
+{
+    uint8_t *compressed_data = NULL;
+    uint8_t *data = NULL;
+    gsize len;
+    ssize_t bytes;
+    int ret = -1;
+
+    if (!g_file_get_contents(filename, (char **) &compressed_data, &len,
+                             NULL)) {
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    /* Is it a gzip-compressed file? */
+    if (len < 2 ||
+        compressed_data[0] != 0x1f ||
+        compressed_data[1] != 0x8b) {
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    if (max_sz > LOAD_IMAGE_MAX_GUNZIP_BYTES) {
+        max_sz = LOAD_IMAGE_MAX_GUNZIP_BYTES;
+    }
+
+    data = g_malloc(max_sz);
+    bytes = gunzip(data, max_sz, compressed_data, len);
+    if (bytes < 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s: unable to decompress gzipped kernel file\n",
+                filename);
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    rom_add_blob_fixed(filename, data, bytes, addr);
+    ret = bytes;
+
+ out:
+    g_free(compressed_data);
+    g_free(data);
+    return ret;
+}
+
 /*
  * Functions for reboot-persistent memory regions.
  *  - used for vga bios and option roms.