diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 0ae47303..58d0a731 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 - oops, VImage.PIL_mode_from_vips() failed for CMYK, thanks Alessandro
 - fix no-pango build
 - add im_vips2dz(): run the deepzoom writer from vips7
+- vips_magickload() has an option to read all images in a sequence
 
 12/3/13 started 7.33.0
 - vipsthumbnail lets you specify the sharpening mask
diff --git a/libvips/deprecated/im_magick2vips.c b/libvips/deprecated/im_magick2vips.c
index ae41fc2e..183d0efe 100644
--- a/libvips/deprecated/im_magick2vips.c
+++ b/libvips/deprecated/im_magick2vips.c
@@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ int
 im_magick2vips( const char *filename, IMAGE *out )
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_MAGICK
-	return( vips__magick_read( filename, out ) ); 
+	/* Old behaviour was always to read all frames.
+	 */
+	return( vips__magick_read( filename, out, TRUE ) ); 
 #else
 	vips_error( "im_magick2vips", 
 		_( "no libMagick support in your libvips" ) ); 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
index b649defb..47f248ec 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
@@ -1668,6 +1668,10 @@ vips_foreign_operation_init( void )
  * @out: decompressed image
  * @...: %NULL-terminated list of optional named arguments
  *
+ * Optional arguments:
+ *
+ * @all_frames: load all frames in sequence
+ *
  * Read in an image using libMagick, the ImageMagick library. This library can
  * read more than 80 file formats, including SVG, BMP, EPS, DICOM and many 
  * others.
@@ -1678,6 +1682,9 @@ vips_foreign_operation_init( void )
  * The reader should also work with most versions of GraphicsMagick. See the
  * "--with-magickpackage" configure option.
  *
+ * Normally it will only load the first image in a many-image sequence (such
+ * as a GIF). Set @all_frames to true to read the whole image sequence. 
+ *
  * See also: vips_image_new_from_file().
  *
  * Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error.
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/magick.h b/libvips/foreign/magick.h
index 37a56bec..df67db0a 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/magick.h
+++ b/libvips/foreign/magick.h
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif /*__cplusplus*/
 
-int vips__magick_read( const char *filename, VipsImage *out );
-int vips__magick_read_header( const char *filename, VipsImage *out );
+int vips__magick_read( const char *filename, 
+	VipsImage *out, gboolean all_frames );
+int vips__magick_read_header( const char *filename, 
+	VipsImage *out, gboolean all_frames );
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/magick2vips.c b/libvips/foreign/magick2vips.c
index 1ae4eeb5..b6c0d973 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/magick2vips.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/magick2vips.c
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@
  */
 
 /* Turn on debugging output.
-#define DEBUG
  */
+#define DEBUG
 
 #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
 #include <config.h>
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@
 typedef struct _Read {
 	char *filename;
 	VipsImage *im;
+	gboolean all_frames;
 
 	Image *image;
 	ImageInfo *image_info;
@@ -138,7 +139,7 @@ read_destroy( VipsImage *im, Read *read )
 }
 
 static Read *
-read_new( const char *filename, VipsImage *im )
+read_new( const char *filename, VipsImage *im, gboolean all_frames )
 {
 	Read *read;
 	static int inited = 0;
@@ -155,6 +156,7 @@ read_new( const char *filename, VipsImage *im )
 	if( !(read = VIPS_NEW( im, Read )) )
 		return( NULL );
 	read->filename = g_strdup( filename );
+	read->all_frames = all_frames;
 	read->im = im;
 	read->image = NULL;
 	read->image_info = CloneImageInfo( NULL );
@@ -245,6 +247,8 @@ parse_header( Read *read )
 		IsMonochromeImage( image, &image->exception ) );
 	printf( "IsOpaqueImage() = %d\n",
 		IsOpaqueImage( image, &image->exception ) );
+	printf( "image->columns = %zd\n", image->columns ); 
+	printf( "image->rows = %zd\n", image->rows ); 
 #endif /*DEBUG*/
 
 	im->Xsize = image->columns;
@@ -405,6 +409,15 @@ parse_header( Read *read )
 		 */
 		read->n_frames = 1;
 
+#ifdef DEBUG
+	printf( "image has %d frames\n", read->n_frames );
+#endif /*DEBUG*/
+
+	/* If all_frames is off, just get the first one.
+	 */
+	if( !read->all_frames )
+		read->n_frames = 1;
+
 	/* Record frame pointers.
 	 */
 	im->Ysize *= read->n_frames;
@@ -632,7 +645,7 @@ magick_fill_region( VipsRegion *out,
 }
 
 int
-vips__magick_read( const char *filename, VipsImage *out )
+vips__magick_read( const char *filename, VipsImage *out, gboolean all_frames )
 {
 	Read *read;
 
@@ -640,7 +653,7 @@ vips__magick_read( const char *filename, VipsImage *out )
 	printf( "magick2vips: vips__magick_read: %s\n", filename );
 #endif /*DEBUG*/
 
-	if( !(read = read_new( filename, out )) )
+	if( !(read = read_new( filename, out, all_frames )) )
 		return( -1 );
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SETIMAGEOPTION
@@ -681,7 +694,8 @@ vips__magick_read( const char *filename, VipsImage *out )
  * http://www.imagemagick.org/discourse-server/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20017
  */
 int
-vips__magick_read_header( const char *filename, VipsImage *im )
+vips__magick_read_header( const char *filename, VipsImage *im, 
+	gboolean all_frames )
 {
 	Read *read;
 
@@ -689,7 +703,7 @@ vips__magick_read_header( const char *filename, VipsImage *im )
 	printf( "vips__magick_read_header: %s\n", filename );
 #endif /*DEBUG*/
 
-	if( !(read = read_new( filename, im )) )
+	if( !(read = read_new( filename, im, all_frames )) )
 		return( -1 );
 
 #ifdef DEBUG
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/magickload.c b/libvips/foreign/magickload.c
index 2ad1aca4..d491781f 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/magickload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/magickload.c
@@ -57,9 +57,8 @@
 typedef struct _VipsForeignLoadMagick {
 	VipsForeignLoad parent_object;
 
-	/* Filename for load.
-	 */
 	char *filename; 
+	gboolean all_frames;
 
 } VipsForeignLoadMagick;
 
@@ -74,7 +73,7 @@ ismagick( const char *filename )
 	VipsImage *t;
 
 	t = vips_image_new();
-	if( vips__magick_read_header( filename, t ) ) {
+	if( vips__magick_read_header( filename, t, FALSE ) ) {
 		g_object_unref( t );
 		return( FALSE );
 	}
@@ -111,7 +110,8 @@ vips_foreign_load_magick_header( VipsForeignLoad *load )
 {
 	VipsForeignLoadMagick *magick = (VipsForeignLoadMagick *) load;
 
-	if( vips__magick_read( magick->filename, load->out ) ) 
+	if( vips__magick_read( magick->filename, 
+		load->out, magick->all_frames ) ) 
 		return( -1 );
 
 	return( 0 );
@@ -149,6 +149,13 @@ vips_foreign_load_magick_class_init( VipsForeignLoadMagickClass *class )
 		VIPS_ARGUMENT_REQUIRED_INPUT, 
 		G_STRUCT_OFFSET( VipsForeignLoadMagick, filename ),
 		NULL );
+
+	VIPS_ARG_BOOL( class, "all_frames", 3, 
+		_( "all_frames" ), 
+		_( "Read all frames from an image" ),
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_OPTIONAL_INPUT,
+		G_STRUCT_OFFSET( VipsForeignLoadMagick, all_frames ),
+		FALSE );
 }
 
 static void