diff --git a/libports/lib/mk/libc_rom.mk b/libports/lib/mk/libc_rom.mk
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ce167c4c94d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libports/lib/mk/libc_rom.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+SRC_CC = plugin.cc
+LIBS  += libc
+
+vpath plugin.cc $(REP_DIR)/src/lib/libc_rom
+
+SHARED_LIB = yes
diff --git a/libports/src/lib/libc_rom/README b/libports/src/lib/libc_rom/README
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..60cc948b617
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libports/src/lib/libc_rom/README
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+The 'libc_rom' plugin allows the use of Genode's ROM-session interface via file
+operations of the C library.
+
+This implementation is very preliminary. It supports no file operations other
+than open and read.
diff --git a/libports/src/lib/libc_rom/plugin.cc b/libports/src/lib/libc_rom/plugin.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bd7d01560c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libports/src/lib/libc_rom/plugin.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+/*
+ * \brief  Libc plugin that uses Genode's ROM session
+ * \author Norman Feske
+ * \date   2012-01-09
+ */
+
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2011-2012 Genode Labs GmbH
+ *
+ * This file is part of the Genode OS framework, which is distributed
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.
+ */
+
+/* libc plugin interface */
+#include <libc-plugin/plugin.h>
+#include <libc-plugin/fd_alloc.h>
+
+/* libc includes */
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+/* Genode includes */
+#include <os/attached_rom_dataspace.h>
+#include <util/misc_math.h>
+#include <base/printf.h>
+#include <base/env.h>
+
+
+namespace {
+
+	/**
+	 * An open file descriptor for this plugin corresponds to a ROM connection
+	 *
+	 * The connection is created along with the context.
+	 */
+	struct Plugin_context : Libc::Plugin_context, Genode::Attached_rom_dataspace
+	{
+		Genode::off_t read_offset;
+
+		Plugin_context(char const *filename)
+		: Genode::Attached_rom_dataspace(filename), read_offset(0) { }
+	};
+
+
+	static inline Plugin_context *context(Libc::File_descriptor *fd)
+	{
+		return static_cast<Plugin_context *>(fd->context);
+	}
+
+
+	class Plugin : public Libc::Plugin
+	{
+		private:
+
+			bool _probe_rom(char const *filename)
+			{
+				try {
+					/*
+					 * Create ROM connection as local variable. The connection
+					 * gets closed automatically when leaving the scope of this
+					 * function.
+					 */
+					Genode::Rom_connection rom(filename);
+					return true;
+				} catch (...) {
+					return false;
+				}
+			}
+
+		public:
+
+			/**
+			 * Constructor
+			 */
+			Plugin()
+			{ }
+
+			bool supports_open(const char *path, int flags)
+			{
+				return _probe_rom(path);
+			}
+
+			Libc::File_descriptor *open(const char *pathname, int flags)
+			{
+				Plugin_context *context = new (Genode::env()->heap())
+				                          Plugin_context(pathname);
+				return Libc::file_descriptor_allocator()->alloc(this, context);
+			}
+
+			int close(Libc::File_descriptor *fd)
+			{
+				Genode::destroy(Genode::env()->heap(), context(fd));
+				Libc::file_descriptor_allocator()->free(fd);
+				return 0;
+			}
+
+			ssize_t read(Libc::File_descriptor *fd, void *buf, ::size_t count)
+			{
+				Plugin_context *rom = context(fd);
+
+				/* file read limit is the size of data space */
+				Genode::size_t const max_size = rom->size();
+
+				/* shortcut to current read offset */
+				Genode::off_t &read_offset = rom->read_offset;
+
+				/* maximum read offset, clamped to dataspace size */
+				Genode::off_t const end_offset = Genode::min(count + read_offset, max_size);
+
+				/* source address within the dataspace */
+				char const *src = rom->local_addr<char>() + read_offset;
+
+				/* check if end of file is reached */
+				if (read_offset >= end_offset)
+					return 0;
+
+				/* copy-out bytes from ROM dataspace */
+				Genode::off_t num_bytes = end_offset - read_offset;
+				memcpy(buf, src, num_bytes);
+
+				/* advance read offset */
+				read_offset += num_bytes;
+
+				return num_bytes;
+			}
+
+			::off_t lseek(Libc::File_descriptor *fd, ::off_t offset, int whence)
+			{
+				Plugin_context *rom = context(fd);
+
+				switch (whence) {
+
+				case SEEK_CUR:
+
+					offset += rom->read_offset;
+
+					/*
+					 * falling through...
+					 */
+
+				case SEEK_SET:
+
+					if (offset > rom->size()) {
+						errno = EINVAL;
+						return (::off_t)(-1);
+					}
+
+					rom->read_offset = offset;
+					break;
+
+				case SEEK_END:
+
+					rom->read_offset = rom->size();
+					break;
+
+				default:
+					errno = EINVAL;
+					return (::off_t)(-1);
+				}
+
+				return rom->read_offset;
+			}
+	};
+
+} /* unnamed namespace */
+
+
+void __attribute__((constructor)) init_libc_rom(void)
+{
+	static Plugin plugin;
+}