diff --git a/docs/reference/gio/glib-compile-resources.xml b/docs/reference/gio/glib-compile-resources.xml
index 5e404a1f9..92a240b64 100644
--- a/docs/reference/gio/glib-compile-resources.xml
+++ b/docs/reference/gio/glib-compile-resources.xml
@@ -145,6 +145,15 @@ set, xmllint is searched in the <envar>PATH</envar>.
 </para></listitem>
 </varlistentry>
 
+<varlistentry>
+<term><envar>GDK_PIXBUF_PIXDATA</envar></term>
+<listitem><para>
+The full path to the gdk-pixbuf-pixdata executable. This is used to preprocess resources with the
+<literal>to-pixdata</literal> preprocessing option. If this environment variable is not
+set, gdk-pixbuf-pixdata is searched in the <envar>PATH</envar>.
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
 </variablelist>
 </refsect2>
 
diff --git a/gio/glib-compile-resources.c b/gio/glib-compile-resources.c
index 0a9dfa9cf..f677cb581 100644
--- a/gio/glib-compile-resources.c
+++ b/gio/glib-compile-resources.c
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ typedef struct
 
 static gchar *sourcedir = NULL;
 static gchar *xmllint = NULL;
+static gchar *gdk_pixbuf_pixdata = NULL;
 
 static void
 file_data_free (FileData *data)
@@ -194,6 +195,7 @@ end_element (GMarkupParseContext  *context,
       gchar *key;
       FileData *data;
       char *tmp_file = NULL;
+      char *tmp_file2 = NULL;
 
       file = state->string->str;
       key = file;
@@ -229,6 +231,7 @@ end_element (GMarkupParseContext  *context,
           gchar **options;
           guint i;
           gboolean xml_stripblanks = FALSE;
+          gboolean to_pixdata = FALSE;
 
           options = g_strsplit (state->preproc_options, ",", -1);
 
@@ -236,6 +239,8 @@ end_element (GMarkupParseContext  *context,
             {
               if (!strcmp (options[i], "xml-stripblanks"))
                 xml_stripblanks = TRUE;
+              else if (!strcmp (options[i], "to-pixdata"))
+                to_pixdata = TRUE;
               else
                 {
                   g_set_error (error, G_MARKUP_ERROR, G_MARKUP_ERROR_INVALID_CONTENT,
@@ -296,7 +301,56 @@ end_element (GMarkupParseContext  *context,
               g_free (real_file);
               real_file = g_strdup (tmp_file);
             }
-        }
+
+          if (to_pixdata && gdk_pixbuf_pixdata == NULL)
+	    g_printerr ("GDK_PIXBUF_PIXDATA not set and gdk-pixbuf-pixdata not found in path; skipping to-pixdata preprocessing.\n");
+          if (to_pixdata && gdk_pixbuf_pixdata != NULL)
+            {
+              gchar *argv[4];
+              int status, fd, argc;
+
+              tmp_file2 = g_strdup ("resource-XXXXXXXX");
+              if ((fd = g_mkstemp (tmp_file2)) == -1)
+                {
+                  int errsv = errno;
+
+                  g_set_error (error, G_IO_ERROR, g_io_error_from_errno (errsv),
+                               _("Failed to create temp file: %s"),
+			       g_strerror (errsv));
+                  g_free (tmp_file2);
+                  tmp_file2 = NULL;
+                  goto cleanup;
+                }
+              close (fd);
+
+              argc = 0;
+              argv[argc++] = (gchar *) gdk_pixbuf_pixdata;
+              argv[argc++] = real_file;
+              argv[argc++] = tmp_file2;
+              argv[argc++] = NULL;
+              g_assert (argc <= G_N_ELEMENTS (argv));
+
+              if (!g_spawn_sync (NULL /* cwd */, argv, NULL /* envv */,
+                                 G_SPAWN_STDOUT_TO_DEV_NULL |
+                                 G_SPAWN_STDERR_TO_DEV_NULL,
+                                 NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &status, &my_error))
+                {
+                  g_propagate_error (error, my_error);
+                  goto cleanup;
+                }
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_WAIT_H
+              if (!WIFEXITED (status) || WEXITSTATUS (status) != 0)
+                {
+                  g_set_error_literal (error, G_IO_ERROR, G_IO_ERROR_FAILED,
+				       _("Error processing input file with xmllint"));
+                  goto cleanup;
+                }
+#endif
+
+              g_free (real_file);
+              real_file = g_strdup (tmp_file2);
+            }
+	}
 
       if (!g_file_get_contents (real_file, &data->content, &data->size, &my_error))
 	{
@@ -352,11 +406,18 @@ end_element (GMarkupParseContext  *context,
       state->preproc_options = NULL;
 
       g_free (real_file);
+
       if (tmp_file)
         {
           unlink (tmp_file);
           g_free (tmp_file);
         }
+
+      if (tmp_file2)
+        {
+          unlink (tmp_file2);
+          g_free (tmp_file2);
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -568,6 +629,10 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
   if (xmllint == NULL)
     g_printerr ("XMLLINT not set and xmllint not found in path; skipping xml preprocessing.\n");
 
+  gdk_pixbuf_pixdata = g_strdup (g_getenv ("GDK_PIXBUF_PIXDATA"));
+  if (gdk_pixbuf_pixdata == NULL)
+    gdk_pixbuf_pixdata = g_find_program_in_path ("gdk-pixbuf-pixdata");
+
   if (target == NULL)
     {
       char *dirname = g_path_get_dirname (srcfile);
diff --git a/gio/gresource.c b/gio/gresource.c
index 61a46e6c7..150eb5d76 100644
--- a/gio/gresource.c
+++ b/gio/gresource.c
@@ -66,11 +66,18 @@ G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GResource, g_resource, g_resource_ref, g_resource_unref)
  *
  * Resource files can also be marked to be preprocessed, by setting the value of the
  * <literal>preprocess</literal> attribute to a comma-separated list of preprocessing options.
- * The only option currently supported is
+ * The only options currently supported are:
+ *
  * <literal>xml-stripblanks</literal> which will use <literal>xmllint</literal> to strip
  * ignorable whitespace from the xml file. For this to work, the <envar>XMLLINT</envar>
- * environment variable must be set to the full path to the xmllint executable;
- * otherwise the preprocessing step is skipped.
+ * environment variable must be set to the full path to the xmllint executable, or xmllint
+ * must be in the PATH; otherwise the preprocessing step is skipped.
+ *
+ * <literal>to-pixdata</literal> which will use <literal>gdk-pixbuf-pixdata</literal> to convert
+ * images to the GdkPixdata format, which allows you to create pixbufs directly using the data inside
+ * the resource file, rather than an (uncompressed) copy if it. For this to work, the gdk-pixbuf-pixdata
+ * program must be in the PATH, or the <envar>GDK_PIXBUF_PIXDATA</envar> environment variable must be
+ * set to the full path to the gdk-pixbuf-pixdata executable; otherwise the preprocessing step is skipped.
  *
  * Resource bundles are created by the <link linkend="glib-compile-resources">glib-compile-resources</link> program
  * which takes an xml file that describes the bundle, and a set of files that the xml references. These