diff --git a/libvips/foreign/Makefile.am b/libvips/foreign/Makefile.am
index c74d94b3..cbd2f8f4 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/Makefile.am
+++ b/libvips/foreign/Makefile.am
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ noinst_LTLIBRARIES = libforeign.la
 libforeign_la_SOURCES = \
 	pforeign.h \
 	niftiload.c \
+	niftisave.c \
 	quantise.c \
 	exif.c \
 	gifload.c \
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
index 74c935f2..20d6dc74 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
@@ -1837,6 +1837,7 @@ vips_foreign_operation_init( void )
 	extern GType vips_foreign_load_svg_file_get_type( void ); 
 	extern GType vips_foreign_load_svg_buffer_get_type( void ); 
 	extern GType vips_foreign_load_nifti_get_type( void ); 
+	extern GType vips_foreign_save_nifti_get_type( void ); 
 	extern GType vips_foreign_load_gif_get_type( void ); 
 	extern GType vips_foreign_load_gif_file_get_type( void ); 
 	extern GType vips_foreign_load_gif_buffer_get_type( void ); 
@@ -1961,6 +1962,7 @@ vips_foreign_operation_init( void )
 
 #ifdef HAVE_NIFTI
 	vips_foreign_load_nifti_get_type(); 
+	vips_foreign_save_nifti_get_type(); 
 #endif /*HAVE_NIFTI*/
 
 	vips__foreign_load_operation = 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c b/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
index 4d9e544e..1f0692be 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
@@ -338,16 +338,6 @@ vips_foreign_load_nifti_set( const char *name, GValue *value, glong offset,
 	return( NULL );
 }
 
-/* Slow and horrid version if there's no recent glib.
- */
-#ifndef HAVE_CHECKED_MUL
-#define g_uint_checked_mul( dest, a, b ) ( \
-	((guint64) a * b) > UINT_MAX ? \
-		(*dest = UINT_MAX, FALSE) : \
-		(*dest = a * b, TRUE) \
-)
-#endif /*HAVE_CHECKED_MUL*/
-
 static int
 vips_foreign_load_nifti_set_header( VipsForeignLoadNifti *nifti,
 	nifti_image *nim, VipsImage *out )
@@ -406,7 +396,8 @@ vips_foreign_load_nifti_set_header( VipsForeignLoadNifti *nifti,
 		return( 0 );
 	}
 
-	if( !(fmt = vips__foreign_nifti_BandFmt2datatype( nim->datatype )) ) {
+	fmt = vips__foreign_nifti_datatype2BandFmt( nim->datatype );
+	if( fmt == VIPS_FORMAT_NOTSET ) { 
 		vips_error( class->nickname, 
 			_( "datatype %d not supported" ), nim->datatype );
 		return( -1 );
@@ -459,7 +450,8 @@ vips_foreign_load_nifti_set_header( VipsForeignLoadNifti *nifti,
 
 	/* Set some vips metadata for every nifti header field.
 	 */
-	vips__foreign_nifti_map( vips_foreign_load_nifti_set, nim, out ); 
+	if( vips__foreign_nifti_map( vips_foreign_load_nifti_set, nim, out ) )
+		return( -1 ); 
 
 	/* One byte longer than the spec to leave space for any extra
 	 * '\0' termination.
@@ -494,7 +486,7 @@ vips_foreign_load_nifti_header( VipsForeignLoad *load )
 	VipsForeignLoadNifti *nifti = (VipsForeignLoadNifti *) load;
 
 	/* We can't use the (much faster) nifti_read_header() since it just
-	 * reads the 348 bytes iof the analyze struct and does not read any of
+	 * reads the 348 bytes of the analyze struct and does not read any of
 	 * the extension fields.
 	 */
 
@@ -552,7 +544,8 @@ const char *vips__nifti_suffs[] = {
 	".hdr", ".hdr.gz", 
 	".img", ".img.gz", 
 	".nia", ".nia.gz", 
-	NULL };
+	NULL 
+};
 
 static void
 vips_foreign_load_nifti_class_init( VipsForeignLoadNiftiClass *class )
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/niftisave.c b/libvips/foreign/niftisave.c
index 0a2055f4..9b0531f2 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/niftisave.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/niftisave.c
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@
 
 #include <vips/vips.h>
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CFITSIO
+#ifdef HAVE_NIFTI
+
+#include <nifti1_io.h>
 
 #include "pforeign.h"
 
@@ -70,11 +72,11 @@ G_DEFINE_TYPE( VipsForeignSaveNifti, vips_foreign_save_nifti,
 static void
 vips_foreign_save_nifti_dispose( GObject *gobject )
 {
-	VipsForeignLoadNifti *nifti = (VipsForeignLoadNifti *) gobject;
+	VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti = (VipsForeignSaveNifti *) gobject;
 
 	VIPS_FREEF( nifti_image_free, nifti->nim );
 
-	G_OBJECT_CLASS( vips_foreign_load_nifti_parent_class )->
+	G_OBJECT_CLASS( vips_foreign_save_nifti_parent_class )->
 		dispose( gobject );
 }
 
@@ -91,24 +93,75 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_header_vips( VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti,
 
 typedef struct _VipsNdimInfo {
 	VipsImage *image;
+	nifti_image *nim;
 	int *dims;
 	int n;
 } VipsNdimInfo;
 
 static void *
-vips_foreign_save_nifti_set_dims( const char *name, GValue *value, glong offset,
-	void *a, void *b )
+vips_foreign_save_nifti_set_dims( const char *name, 
+	GValue *value, glong offset, void *a, void *b )
 {
 	VipsNdimInfo *info = (VipsNdimInfo *) a;
 
 	/* The first 8 members are the dims fields. 
 	 */
-	if( info->n < 7 ) {
-		char txt[256];
+	if( info->n < 8 ) {
+		char vips_name[256];
+		int i;
 
-		vips_snprintf( txt, 256, "nifti-%s", name );
-		if( vips_image_get_int( image, name, &info->dims[i] ) )
+		vips_snprintf( vips_name, 256, "nifti-%s", name );
+		if( vips_image_get_int( info->image, vips_name, &i ) ||
+			i <= 0 ||
+			i > VIPS_MAX_COORD ) 
 			return( info );
+		info->dims[info->n] = i;
+	}
+
+	info->n += 1;
+
+	return( NULL ); 
+}
+
+/* How I wish glib had something like this :( Just implement the ones we need
+ * for vips_foreign_nifti_fields above.
+ */
+static void
+vips_gvalue_write( GValue *value, void *p )
+{
+	switch( G_VALUE_TYPE( value ) ) {
+	case G_TYPE_INT:
+		*((int *) p) = g_value_get_int( value );
+		break;
+
+	case G_TYPE_FLOAT:
+		*((float *) p) = g_value_get_float( value );
+		break;
+
+	default:
+		g_warning( "vips_gvalue_write: unsupported GType %s", 
+			g_type_name( G_VALUE_TYPE( value ) ) );
+	}
+}
+
+static void *
+vips_foreign_save_nifti_set_fields( const char *name, 
+	GValue *value, glong offset, void *a, void *b )
+{
+	VipsNdimInfo *info = (VipsNdimInfo *) a;
+
+	/* The first 8 members are the dims fields. We set them above ^^^ --
+	 * do the others in this pass.
+	 */
+	if( info->n >= 8 ) {
+		char vips_name[256];
+		GValue value_copy = { 0 };
+
+		vips_snprintf( vips_name, 256, "nifti-%s", name );
+		if( vips_image_get( info->image, vips_name, &value_copy ) )
+			return( info );
+		vips_gvalue_write( &value_copy, (gpointer) info->nim + offset );
+		g_value_unset( &value_copy );
 	}
 
 	info->n += 1;
@@ -127,7 +180,7 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_header_nifti( VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti,
 	VipsNdimInfo info;
 	int dims[8];
 	int datatype;
-	int height;
+	guint height;
 	int i;
 
 	info.image = image;
@@ -137,13 +190,18 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_header_nifti( VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti,
 		vips_foreign_save_nifti_set_dims, &info, NULL ) )
 		return( -1 ); 
 
-
+	/* FIXME what about page-height? should check that too.
+	 */
 
 	height = 1;
-	for( i = 2; i < VIPS_NUMBER( dims ) && i < dims[0]; i++ )
-		height *= dims[i];
-	if( images->Xsize != dims[1] ||
-		images->Ysize != height ) {
+	for( i = 2; i < VIPS_NUMBER( dims ) && i < dims[0] + 1; i++ )
+		if( !g_uint_checked_mul( &height, height, dims[i] ) ) {
+			vips_error( class->nickname, 
+				"%s", _( "dimension overflow" ) ); 
+			return( 0 );
+		}
+	if( image->Xsize != dims[1] ||
+		image->Ysize != height ) {
 		vips_error( class->nickname, 
 			"%s", _( "bad image dimensions" ) );
 		return( -1 );
@@ -156,9 +214,16 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_header_nifti( VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti,
 		return( -1 );
 	}
 
-	if( !(nnifti->nim = nifti_make_new_nim( dims, datatype, FALSE )) )
+	if( !(nifti->nim = nifti_make_new_nim( dims, datatype, FALSE )) )
 		return( -1 );
 
+	info.image = image;
+	info.nim = nifti->nim;
+	info.n = 0;
+	if( vips__foreign_nifti_map( 
+		vips_foreign_save_nifti_set_fields, &info, NULL ) )
+		return( -1 ); 
+
 	return( 0 );
 }
 
@@ -167,8 +232,6 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_build( VipsObject *object )
 {
 	VipsForeignSave *save = (VipsForeignSave *) object;
 	VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti = (VipsForeignSaveNifti *) object;
-	VipsImage **t = (VipsImage **) 
-		vips_object_local_array( VIPS_OBJECT( nifti ), 2 );
 
 	if( VIPS_OBJECT_CLASS( vips_foreign_save_nifti_parent_class )->
 		build( object ) )
@@ -192,7 +255,8 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_build( VipsObject *object )
 	/* set ext, plus other stuff
 	 */
 
-	if( !(nim->data = vips_image_write_memory( save->ready, NULL )) )
+	if( !(nifti->nim->data = 
+		vips_image_write_to_memory( save->ready, NULL )) )
 		return( -1 );
 
 	/* No return code!??!?!!
@@ -202,7 +266,7 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_build( VipsObject *object )
 	/* We must free and NULL the pointer or nifti will try to free it for
 	 * us.
 	 */
-	VIPS_FREE( nim->data );
+	VIPS_FREE( nifti->nim->data );
 
 	return( 0 );
 }
@@ -259,7 +323,7 @@ vips_foreign_save_nifti_init( VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti )
 {
 }
 
-#endif /*HAVE_CFITSIO*/
+#endif /*HAVE_NIFTI*/
 
 /**
  * vips_niftisave: (method)
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/pforeign.h b/libvips/foreign/pforeign.h
index a4864c19..bdffc683 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/pforeign.h
+++ b/libvips/foreign/pforeign.h
@@ -35,6 +35,16 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif /*__cplusplus*/
 
+/* Slow and horrid version if there's no recent glib.
+ */
+#ifndef HAVE_CHECKED_MUL
+#define g_uint_checked_mul( dest, a, b ) ( \
+	((guint64) a * b) > UINT_MAX ? \
+		(*dest = UINT_MAX, FALSE) : \
+		(*dest = a * b, TRUE) \
+)
+#endif /*HAVE_CHECKED_MUL*/
+
 void vips__tiff_init( void );
 
 int vips__tiff_write( VipsImage *in, const char *filename, 
@@ -256,6 +266,8 @@ int vips__quantise_image( VipsImage *in,
 	VipsImage **index_out, VipsImage **palette_out,
 	int colours, int Q, double dither );
 
+extern const char *vips__nifti_suffs[];
+
 VipsBandFormat vips__foreign_nifti_datatype2BandFmt( int datatype );
 int vips__foreign_nifti_BandFmt2datatype( VipsBandFormat fmt );