diff --git a/arch/arm/lib32/bootm.c b/arch/arm/lib32/bootm.c
index a280795..b1ac2df 100644
--- a/arch/arm/lib32/bootm.c
+++ b/arch/arm/lib32/bootm.c
@@ -165,11 +165,18 @@
 		free_mem = PAGE_ALIGN(initrd_end + 1);
 	}
 
+	if (!fdt) {
+		fdt = bootm_get_devicetree(data);
+		if (IS_ERR(fdt))
+			return PTR_ERR(fdt);
+	}
+
 	if (fdt) {
-		fdt_load_address = fdt;
-	} else {
 		fdt_load_address = (void *)free_mem;
-		ret = bootm_load_devicetree(data, free_mem);
+		ret = bootm_load_devicetree(data, fdt, free_mem);
+
+		free(fdt);
+
 		if (ret)
 			return ret;
 	}
diff --git a/arch/arm/lib64/armlinux.c b/arch/arm/lib64/armlinux.c
index 238e8b6..afa5679 100644
--- a/arch/arm/lib64/armlinux.c
+++ b/arch/arm/lib64/armlinux.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 	resource_size_t start, end;
 	unsigned long text_offset, image_size, devicetree, kernel;
 	int ret;
+	void *fdt;
 
 	text_offset = le64_to_cpup(data->os_header + 8);
 	image_size = le64_to_cpup(data->os_header + 16);
@@ -54,7 +55,16 @@
 
 	devicetree = ALIGN(kernel + image_size, PAGE_SIZE);
 
-	ret = bootm_load_devicetree(data, devicetree);
+	fdt = bootm_get_devicetree(data);
+	if (IS_ERR(fdt)) {
+		ret = PTR_ERR(fdt);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	ret = bootm_load_devicetree(data, fdt, devicetree);
+
+	free(fdt);
+
 	if (ret)
 		goto out;
 
diff --git a/common/bootm.c b/common/bootm.c
index 8167c3a..169000c 100644
--- a/common/bootm.c
+++ b/common/bootm.c
@@ -320,25 +320,24 @@
 }
 
 /*
- * bootm_load_devicetree() - load devicetree
+ * bootm_get_devicetree() - get devicetree
  *
  * @data:		image data context
- * @load_address:	The address where the devicetree should be loaded to
  *
- * This loads the devicetree to a RAM location. load_address must be a valid
- * address. The resulting devicetree will be found at data->oftree.
+ * This gets the fixed devicetree from the various image sources or the internal
+ * devicetree. It returns a pointer to the allocated devicetree which must be
+ * freed after use.
  *
- * Return: 0 on success, negative error code otherwise
+ * Return: pointer to the fixed devicetree or a ERR_PTR() on failure.
  */
-int bootm_load_devicetree(struct image_data *data, unsigned long load_address)
+void *bootm_get_devicetree(struct image_data *data)
 {
 	enum filetype type;
-	int fdt_size;
 	struct fdt_header *oftree;
 	int ret;
 
 	if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_OFTREE))
-		return 0;
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENOSYS);
 
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_FITIMAGE) && data->os_fit &&
 	    fit_has_image(data->os_fit, data->fit_config, "fdt")) {
@@ -348,7 +347,7 @@
 		ret = fit_open_image(data->os_fit, data->fit_config, "fdt",
 				     &of_tree, &of_size);
 		if (ret)
-			return ret;
+			return ERR_PTR(ret);
 
 		data->of_root_node = of_unflatten_dtb(of_tree);
 	} else if (data->oftree_file) {
@@ -359,7 +358,7 @@
 		if ((int)type < 0) {
 			printf("could not open %s: %s\n", data->oftree_file,
 					strerror(-type));
-			return (int)type;
+			return ERR_PTR((int)type);
 		}
 
 		switch (type) {
@@ -372,11 +371,11 @@
 					  FILESIZE_MAX);
 			break;
 		default:
-			return -EINVAL;
+			return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 		}
 
 		if (ret)
-			return ret;
+			return ERR_PTR(ret);
 
 		data->of_root_node = of_unflatten_dtb(oftree);
 
@@ -385,13 +384,13 @@
 		if (IS_ERR(data->of_root_node)) {
 			data->of_root_node = NULL;
 			pr_err("unable to unflatten devicetree\n");
-			return -EINVAL;
+			return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 		}
 
 	} else {
 		data->of_root_node = of_get_root_node();
 		if (!data->of_root_node)
-			return 0;
+			return NULL;
 
 		if (bootm_verbose(data) > 1 && data->of_root_node)
 			printf("using internal devicetree\n");
@@ -405,24 +404,42 @@
 
 	oftree = of_get_fixed_tree(data->of_root_node);
 	if (!oftree)
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 
-	fdt_size = be32_to_cpu(oftree->totalsize);
+	fdt_add_reserve_map(oftree);
+
+	return oftree;
+}
+
+/*
+ * bootm_load_devicetree() - load devicetree
+ *
+ * @data:		image data context
+ * @fdt:		The flat device tree to load
+ * @load_address:	The address where the devicetree should be loaded to
+ *
+ * This loads the devicetree to a RAM location. load_address must be a valid
+ * address which is requested with request_sdram_region. The associated region
+ * is released automatically in the bootm error path.
+ *
+ * Return: 0 on success, negative error code otherwise
+ */
+int bootm_load_devicetree(struct image_data *data, void *fdt,
+			    unsigned long load_address)
+{
+	int fdt_size;
+
+	if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_OFTREE))
+		return -ENOSYS;
+
+	fdt_size = be32_to_cpu(((struct fdt_header *)fdt)->totalsize);
 
 	data->oftree_res = request_sdram_region("oftree", load_address,
 			fdt_size);
-	if (!data->oftree_res) {
-		free(oftree);
+	if (!data->oftree_res)
 		return -ENOMEM;
-	}
 
-	memcpy((void *)data->oftree_res->start, oftree, fdt_size);
-
-	free(oftree);
-
-	oftree = (void *)data->oftree_res->start;
-
-	fdt_add_reserve_map(oftree);
+	memcpy((void *)data->oftree_res->start, fdt, fdt_size);
 
 	of_print_cmdline(data->of_root_node);
 	if (bootm_verbose(data) > 1)
diff --git a/include/bootm.h b/include/bootm.h
index 0377977..fdc73f7 100644
--- a/include/bootm.h
+++ b/include/bootm.h
@@ -125,7 +125,9 @@
 bool bootm_has_initrd(struct image_data *data);
 int bootm_load_initrd(struct image_data *data, unsigned long load_address);
 
-int bootm_load_devicetree(struct image_data *data, unsigned long load_address);
+void *bootm_get_devicetree(struct image_data *data);
+int bootm_load_devicetree(struct image_data *data, void *fdt,
+			  unsigned long load_address);
 int bootm_get_os_size(struct image_data *data);
 
 enum bootm_verify bootm_get_verify_mode(void);