diff --git a/common/filetype.c b/common/filetype.c
index 5941ad2..22fc621 100644
--- a/common/filetype.c
+++ b/common/filetype.c
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@
 		return filetype_aimage;
 	if (buf64[0] == le64_to_cpu(0x0a1a0a0d474e5089ull))
 		return filetype_png;
-	if (strncmp(buf8 + 0x10, "barebox", 7) == 0)
+	if (is_barebox_mips_head(_buf))
 		return filetype_mips_barebox;
 
 	if (bufsize < 64)
diff --git a/include/filetype.h b/include/filetype.h
index 502b920..3b0715f 100644
--- a/include/filetype.h
+++ b/include/filetype.h
@@ -50,4 +50,20 @@
 }
 #endif
 
+#define MIPS_HEAD_SIZE			0x20
+#define MIPS_HEAD_MAGICWORD_OFFSET	0x10
+#define MIPS_HEAD_SIZE_OFFSET		0x1C
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_MIPS
+static inline int is_barebox_mips_head(const char *head)
+{
+	return !strcmp(head + MIPS_HEAD_MAGICWORD_OFFSET, "barebox");
+}
+#else
+static inline int is_barebox_mips_head(const char *head)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+#endif
+
 #endif /* __FILE_TYPE_H */