diff --git a/src/rafimage.cpp b/src/rafimage.cpp
index bcbed1d956..e0470f93bc 100644
--- a/src/rafimage.cpp
+++ b/src/rafimage.cpp
@@ -364,17 +364,25 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
         // sanity check.  Does tiff lie inside the file?
         enforce(Safe::add(tiffOffset, tiffLength) <= io_->size(), kerCorruptedMetadata);
 
-        DataBuf  tiff(tiffLength);
         if (io_->seek(tiffOffset, BasicIo::beg) != 0) throw Error(kerFailedToReadImageData);
-        io_->read(tiff.pData_, tiff.size_);
 
-        if (!io_->error() && !io_->eof())
+        // check if this really is a tiff (some older models just embed a raw bitstream)
+        io_->read(readBuff, 4);
+        io_->seek(-4, BasicIo::cur);
+        if (memcmp(readBuff, "\x49\x49\x2A\x00", 4) == 0 ||
+            memcmp(readBuff, "\x4D\x4D\x00\x2A", 4) == 0)
         {
-            TiffParser::decode(exifData_,
-                               iptcData_,
-                               xmpData_,
-                               tiff.pData_,
-                               tiff.size_);
+            DataBuf  tiff(tiffLength);
+            io_->read(tiff.pData_, tiff.size_);
+
+            if (!io_->error() && !io_->eof())
+            {
+                TiffParser::decode(exifData_,
+                                   iptcData_,
+                                   xmpData_,
+                                   tiff.pData_,
+                                   tiff.size_);
+            }
         }
     } // RafImage::readMetadata