diff --git a/test/test-suite/helpers/helpers.py b/test/test-suite/helpers/helpers.py
index 39e5efc2..7a8b7caa 100644
--- a/test/test-suite/helpers/helpers.py
+++ b/test/test-suite/helpers/helpers.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ GIF_ANIM_FILE = os.path.join(IMAGES, "cogs.gif")
 DICOM_FILE = os.path.join(IMAGES, "dicom_test_image.dcm")
 BMP_FILE = os.path.join(IMAGES, "MARBLES.BMP")
 NIFTI_FILE = os.path.join(IMAGES, "avg152T1_LR_nifti.nii.gz")
+ICO_FILE = os.path.join(IMAGES, "favicon.ico")
 
 unsigned_formats = [pyvips.BandFormat.UCHAR,
                     pyvips.BandFormat.USHORT,
diff --git a/test/test-suite/images/favicon.ico b/test/test-suite/images/favicon.ico
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8941291
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/test-suite/images/favicon.ico differ
diff --git a/test/test-suite/test_foreign.py b/test/test-suite/test_foreign.py
index f6db157a..103ed639 100644
--- a/test/test-suite/test_foreign.py
+++ b/test/test-suite/test_foreign.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from helpers import \
     JPEG_FILE, SRGB_FILE, MATLAB_FILE, PNG_FILE, TIF_FILE, OME_FILE, \
     ANALYZE_FILE, GIF_FILE, WEBP_FILE, EXR_FILE, FITS_FILE, OPENSLIDE_FILE, \
     PDF_FILE, SVG_FILE, SVGZ_FILE, SVG_GZ_FILE, GIF_ANIM_FILE, DICOM_FILE, \
-    BMP_FILE, NIFTI_FILE, \
+    BMP_FILE, NIFTI_FILE, ICO_FILE, \
     temp_filename, assert_almost_equal_objects, have, skip_if_no
 
 
@@ -428,11 +428,18 @@ class TestForeign:
         # assert im.bands == 1
 
         # added in 8.7
-        if have("magicksave"):
-            self.save_load_file(".bmp", "", self.colour, 0)
-            self.save_load_buffer("magicksave_buffer", "magickload_buffer",
-                                  self.colour, 0, format="BMP")
-            self.save_load("%s.bmp", self.colour)
+        self.save_load_file(".bmp", "", self.colour, 0)
+        self.save_load_buffer("magicksave_buffer", "magickload_buffer",
+                              self.colour, 0, format="BMP")
+        self.save_load("%s.bmp", self.colour)
+
+        # libvips has its own sniffer for ICO, test that
+        with open(ICO_FILE, 'rb') as f:
+            buf = f.read()
+
+        im = pyvips.Image.new_from_buffer(buf, "")
+        assert im.width == 16
+        assert im.height == 16
 
     @skip_if_no("webpload")
     def test_webp(self):