diff --git a/common/filetype.c b/common/filetype.c
index c8f3582..810d9a5 100644
--- a/common/filetype.c
+++ b/common/filetype.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <malloc.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <envfs.h>
+#include <disks.h>
 
 struct filetype_str {
 	const char *name;	/* human readable filetype */
@@ -87,6 +88,10 @@
 #define MBR_PART_start_sect	8
 #define MBR_OSTYPE_EFI_GPT	0xee
 
+#define FAT_BS_reserved		14
+#define FAT_BS_fats		16
+#define FAT_BS_media		21
+
 static inline int pmbr_part_valid(const uint8_t *buf)
 {
 	if (buf[MBR_PART_sys_ind] == MBR_OSTYPE_EFI_GPT &&
@@ -126,6 +131,49 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static inline int fat_valid_media(u8 media)
+{
+	return (0xf8 <= media || media == 0xf0);
+}
+
+static int is_fat_with_no_mbr(const unsigned char  *sect)
+{
+	if (!get_unaligned_le16(&sect[FAT_BS_reserved]))
+		return 0;
+
+	if (!sect[FAT_BS_fats])
+		return 0;
+
+	if (!fat_valid_media(sect[FAT_BS_media]))
+		return 0;
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
+int is_fat_boot_sector(const void *sect)
+{
+	struct partition_entry *p;
+	int slot;
+
+	p = (struct partition_entry *) (sect + MBR_Table);
+	/* max 4 partitions */
+	for (slot = 1; slot <= 4; slot++, p++) {
+		if (p->boot_indicator && p->boot_indicator != 0x80) {
+			/*
+			 * Even without a valid boot inidicator value
+			 * its still possible this is valid FAT filesystem
+			 * without a partition table.
+			 */
+			if (slot == 1 && is_fat_with_no_mbr(sect))
+				return 1;
+			 else
+				return -EINVAL;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 enum filetype is_fat_or_mbr(const unsigned char *sector, unsigned long *bootsec)
 {
 	/*
diff --git a/common/partitions.c b/common/partitions.c
index 694c6f6..37d9cb7 100644
--- a/common/partitions.c
+++ b/common/partitions.c
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@
 	 * useful for compatibility
 	 */
 	type = file_detect_partition_table(buf, SECTOR_SIZE);
+	if (type == filetype_fat && !is_fat_boot_sector(buf))
+		type = filetype_mbr;
 
 	list_for_each_entry(parser, &partition_parser_list, list) {
 		if (parser->type == type)
diff --git a/include/filetype.h b/include/filetype.h
index eedf4b4..2c3c38d 100644
--- a/include/filetype.h
+++ b/include/filetype.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 enum filetype file_detect_type(const void *_buf, size_t bufsize);
 enum filetype file_name_detect_type(const char *filename);
 enum filetype is_fat_or_mbr(const unsigned char *sector, unsigned long *bootsec);
+int is_fat_boot_sector(const void *_buf);
 
 #define ARM_HEAD_SIZE			0x30
 #define ARM_HEAD_MAGICWORD_OFFSET	0x20