diff --git a/libvips/deprecated/Makefile.am b/libvips/deprecated/Makefile.am
index bbc93424..524e060e 100644
--- a/libvips/deprecated/Makefile.am
+++ b/libvips/deprecated/Makefile.am
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ libdeprecated_la_SOURCES = \
 	im_point_bilinear.c \
 	resample_dispatch.c \
 	im_openslide2vips.c \
+	im_nifti2vips.c \
 	im_lab_morph.c \
 	deprecated_dispatch.c \
 	mosaicing_dispatch.c \
diff --git a/libvips/deprecated/format.c b/libvips/deprecated/format.c
index edeb25d5..03ea8fd1 100644
--- a/libvips/deprecated/format.c
+++ b/libvips/deprecated/format.c
@@ -307,6 +307,8 @@ im__format_init( void )
 #endif /*HAVE_TIFF*/
 	extern GType vips_format_openslide_get_type( void );
 	vips_format_openslide_get_type();
+	extern GType vips_format_nifti_get_type( void );
+	vips_format_nifti_get_type();
 }
 
 /* Can this format open this file?
diff --git a/libvips/deprecated/im_nifti2vips.c b/libvips/deprecated/im_nifti2vips.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cec34237
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libvips/deprecated/im_nifti2vips.c
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+/* load nifti images
+ *
+ * 10/9/18
+ *	- from im_openslide2vips
+ */
+
+/*
+
+    This file is part of VIPS.
+    
+    VIPS is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+    Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+    02110-1301  USA
+
+ */
+
+/*
+
+    These files are distributed with VIPS - http://www.vips.ecs.soton.ac.uk
+
+ */
+
+/*
+#define DEBUG
+ */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif /*HAVE_CONFIG_H*/
+#include <vips/intl.h>
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <assert.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include <vips/vips.h>
+#include <vips/vips7compat.h>
+#include <vips/thread.h>
+#include <vips/internal.h>
+
+static int
+im_nifti2vips( const char *name, IMAGE *out )
+{
+	VipsImage *t;
+
+	if( vips_niftiload( name, &t, NULL ) )
+		return( -1 );
+	if( vips_image_write( t, out ) ) {
+		g_object_unref( t );
+		return( -1 );
+	}
+	g_object_unref( t );
+
+	return( 0 );
+}
+
+static const char *nifti_suffs[] = { 
+	".nii", ".nii.gz", 
+	".hdr", ".hdr.gz", 
+	".img", ".img.gz", 
+	".nia", ".nia.gz", 
+	NULL 
+};
+
+static VipsFormatFlags
+nifti_flags( const char *name )
+{
+	char filename[FILENAME_MAX];
+	char mode[FILENAME_MAX];
+
+	im_filename_split( name, filename, mode );
+
+	return( (VipsFormatFlags) 
+		vips_foreign_flags( "niftiload", filename ) );
+}
+
+static int
+isnifti( const char *name )
+{
+	char filename[FILENAME_MAX];
+	char mode[FILENAME_MAX];
+
+	im_filename_split( name, filename, mode );
+
+	return( vips_foreign_is_a( "niftiload", filename ) );
+}
+
+/* nifti format adds no new members.
+ */
+typedef VipsFormat VipsFormatNifti;
+typedef VipsFormatClass VipsFormatNiftiClass;
+
+static void
+vips_format_nifti_class_init( VipsFormatNiftiClass *class )
+{
+	VipsObjectClass *object_class = (VipsObjectClass *) class;
+	VipsFormatClass *format_class = (VipsFormatClass *) class;
+
+	object_class->nickname = "im_nifti";
+	object_class->description = _( "NIfTI" );
+
+	format_class->priority = 100;
+	format_class->is_a = isnifti;
+	format_class->load = im_nifti2vips;
+	format_class->get_flags = nifti_flags;
+	format_class->suffs = nifti_suffs;
+}
+
+static void
+vips_format_nifti_init( VipsFormatNifti *object )
+{
+}
+
+G_DEFINE_TYPE( VipsFormatNifti, vips_format_nifti, VIPS_TYPE_FORMAT );
+