diff --git a/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image.h b/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image.h
index 281e82a616..68f4686d59 100644
--- a/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image.h
+++ b/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ EAPI RGBA_Image       *evas_common_image_alpha_line_buffer_obtain  (int len);
 EAPI void              evas_common_image_alpha_line_buffer_release (RGBA_Image *im);
 EAPI void              evas_common_image_alpha_line_buffer_free    (RGBA_Image *im);
 
+EAPI RGBA_Image       *evas_common_load_image_from_file            (const char *file, const char *key, Evas_Image_Load_Opts *lo, int *error);
 EAPI RGBA_Image       *evas_common_load_image_from_mmap            (Eina_File *f, const char *key, Evas_Image_Load_Opts *lo, int *error);
 EAPI int               evas_common_save_image_to_file              (RGBA_Image *im, const char *file, const char *key, int quality, int compress, const char *encoding);
 
diff --git a/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image_main.c b/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image_main.c
index e06fc9f653..57a9a8c0c5 100644
--- a/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image_main.c
+++ b/src/lib/evas/common/evas_image_main.c
@@ -1015,6 +1015,18 @@ evas_common_image_get_cache(void)
    return evas_cache_image_get(eci);
 }
 
+EAPI RGBA_Image *
+evas_common_load_image_from_file(const char *file, const char *key,
+                                 Evas_Image_Load_Opts *lo, int *error)
+{
+   if (!file)
+     {
+        *error = EVAS_LOAD_ERROR_GENERIC;
+        return NULL;
+     }
+   return (RGBA_Image *) evas_cache_image_request(eci, file, key, lo, error);
+}
+
 EAPI RGBA_Image *
 evas_common_load_image_from_mmap(Eina_File *f, const char *key,
                                  Evas_Image_Load_Opts *lo, int *error)