diff --git a/qdf/inc/qdf_file.h b/qdf/inc/qdf_file.h
index 9ab401d027..8dd19a6ed3 100644
--- a/qdf/inc/qdf_file.h
+++ b/qdf/inc/qdf_file.h
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2018-2021 The Linux Foundation. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
  *
  * Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for
  * any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the
@@ -40,11 +41,30 @@
  */
 QDF_STATUS qdf_file_read(const char *path, char **out_buf);
 
+/**
+ * qdf_file_read_bytes() - read the entire contents of a file and return the
+ * size read along with the content
+ * @path: the full path of the file to read
+ * @out_buf: double pointer for referring to the file contents buffer
+ * @out_buff_size: size of the contents read
+ *
+ * This API allocates a new, null-terminated buffer containing the contents of
+ * the file at @path. On success, @out_buf points to this new buffer, otherwise
+ * @out_buf is set to NULL.
+ *
+ * Consumers must free the allocated buffer by calling qdf_file_buf_free().
+ *
+ * Return: QDF_STATUS
+ */
+QDF_STATUS qdf_file_read_bytes(const char *path, char **out_buf,
+			       unsigned int *out_buff_size);
+
 /**
  * qdf_file_buf_free() - free a previously allocated file buffer
  * @file_buf: pointer to the file buffer to free
  *
- * This API is used in conjunction with qdf_file_read().
+ * This API is used in conjunction with qdf_file_read() and
+ * qdf_file_read_bytes().
  *
  * Return: None
  */
diff --git a/qdf/linux/src/qdf_file.c b/qdf/linux/src/qdf_file.c
index b07f907d5c..19a89bfa21 100644
--- a/qdf/linux/src/qdf_file.c
+++ b/qdf/linux/src/qdf_file.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2018-2019, 2021 The Linux Foundation. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
  *
  * Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for
  * any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the
@@ -121,3 +122,34 @@ void qdf_module_param_file_free(char *file_buf)
 	qdf_untracked_mem_free(file_buf);
 }
 #endif
+
+QDF_STATUS qdf_file_read_bytes(const char *path, char **out_buf,
+			       unsigned int *out_buff_size)
+{
+	int errno;
+	const struct firmware *fw;
+	char *buf;
+
+	*out_buf = NULL;
+
+	errno = qdf_firmware_request_nowarn(&fw, path, NULL);
+	if (errno) {
+		qdf_err("Failed to read file %s", path);
+		return QDF_STATUS_E_FAILURE;
+	}
+
+	buf = qdf_mem_malloc(fw->size);
+	if (!buf) {
+		release_firmware(fw);
+		return QDF_STATUS_E_NOMEM;
+	}
+
+	qdf_mem_copy(buf, fw->data, fw->size);
+	*out_buff_size = fw->size;
+	*out_buf = buf;
+	release_firmware(fw);
+
+	return QDF_STATUS_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+qdf_export_symbol(qdf_file_read_bytes);