diff --git a/tools/gtk-image-tool-compare.c b/tools/gtk-image-tool-compare.c
index 79de7895e2..7963305790 100644
--- a/tools/gtk-image-tool-compare.c
+++ b/tools/gtk-image-tool-compare.c
@@ -79,10 +79,10 @@ do_compare (int          *argc,
 
   for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
     {
-      texture[i] = gdk_texture_new_from_filename (filenames[i], &error);
+      texture[i] = load_image_file (filenames[i]);
       if (texture[i] == NULL)
         {
-          g_printerr (_("Failed to load %s: %s\n"), filenames[i], error->message);
+          g_printerr (_("Failed to load %s\n"), filenames[i]);
           exit (1);
         }
     }
diff --git a/tools/gtk-image-tool-convert.c b/tools/gtk-image-tool-convert.c
index 79e33050ff..a794412fa6 100644
--- a/tools/gtk-image-tool-convert.c
+++ b/tools/gtk-image-tool-convert.c
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@
 
 
 static void
-save_image (const char      *filename,
-            const char      *output,
-            GdkMemoryFormat  format,
-            GdkColorState   *color_state)
+convert_image (const char      *filename,
+               const char      *output,
+               GdkMemoryFormat  format,
+               GdkColorState   *color_state)
 {
   GdkTexture *orig;
   GdkTextureDownloader *downloader;
@@ -61,10 +61,7 @@ save_image (const char      *filename,
 
   texture = gdk_memory_texture_builder_build (builder);
 
-  if (g_str_has_suffix (output, ".tiff"))
-    gdk_texture_save_to_tiff (texture, output);
-  else
-    gdk_texture_save_to_png (texture, output);
+  save_texture (texture, output);
 
   g_object_unref (texture);
   g_bytes_unref (bytes);
@@ -173,7 +170,7 @@ do_convert (int          *argc,
   if (!color_state)
     color_state = gdk_color_state_get_srgb ();
 
-  save_image (filenames[0], filenames[1], format, color_state);
+  convert_image (filenames[0], filenames[1], format, color_state);
 
   g_strfreev (filenames);
 }
diff --git a/tools/gtk-image-tool-relabel.c b/tools/gtk-image-tool-relabel.c
index 3b872fb379..6af43db049 100644
--- a/tools/gtk-image-tool-relabel.c
+++ b/tools/gtk-image-tool-relabel.c
@@ -60,10 +60,7 @@ relabel_image (const char      *filename,
 
   texture = gdk_memory_texture_builder_build (builder);
 
-  if (g_str_has_suffix (output, ".tiff"))
-    gdk_texture_save_to_tiff (texture, output);
-  else
-    gdk_texture_save_to_png (texture, output);
+  save_texture (texture, output);
 
   g_object_unref (texture);
   g_bytes_unref (bytes);
diff --git a/tools/gtk-image-tool-utils.c b/tools/gtk-image-tool-utils.c
index 8cbc1b5362..469546dd22 100644
--- a/tools/gtk-image-tool-utils.c
+++ b/tools/gtk-image-tool-utils.c
@@ -28,15 +28,29 @@
 #include <glib/gstdio.h>
 #include <gtk/gtk.h>
 #include "gtk-image-tool.h"
-
+#include "gdk/loaders/gdkavifprivate.h"
 
 GdkTexture *
 load_image_file (const char *filename)
 {
   GError *error = NULL;
-  GdkTexture *texture;
+  GdkTexture *texture = NULL;
+  char *data;
+  gsize size;
+  GBytes *bytes;
+
+  if (g_file_get_contents (filename, &data, &size, &error))
+    {
+      bytes = g_bytes_new_take (data, size);
+
+#ifdef HAVE_AVIF
+      if (gdk_is_avif (bytes))
+        texture = gdk_load_avif (bytes, &error);
+      else
+#endif
+        texture = gdk_texture_new_from_bytes (bytes, &error);
+    }
 
-  texture = gdk_texture_new_from_filename (filename, &error);
   if (!texture)
     {
       g_printerr ("%s\n", error->message);
@@ -44,9 +58,39 @@ load_image_file (const char *filename)
       exit (1);
     }
 
+  g_bytes_unref (bytes);
+
   return texture;
 }
 
+gboolean
+save_texture (GdkTexture *texture,
+              const char *filename)
+{
+  if (g_str_has_suffix (filename, ".png"))
+    return gdk_texture_save_to_png (texture, filename);
+  else if (g_str_has_suffix (filename, ".tiff"))
+    return gdk_texture_save_to_tiff (texture, filename);
+#ifdef HAVE_AVIF
+  else if (g_str_has_suffix (filename, ".avif"))
+    {
+      GBytes *bytes;
+      gboolean result;
+
+      bytes = gdk_save_avif (texture);
+      result = g_file_set_contents (filename,
+                                    g_bytes_get_data (bytes, NULL),
+                                    g_bytes_get_size (bytes),
+                                    NULL);
+      g_bytes_unref (bytes);
+
+      return result;
+    }
+#endif
+
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
 gboolean
 find_format_by_name (const char      *name,
                      GdkMemoryFormat *format)
diff --git a/tools/gtk-image-tool.h b/tools/gtk-image-tool.h
index 12e39dfa37..83db96dfd8 100644
--- a/tools/gtk-image-tool.h
+++ b/tools/gtk-image-tool.h
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ void do_relabel     (int *argc, const char ***argv);
 void do_show        (int *argc, const char ***argv);
 
 GdkTexture * load_image_file (const char *filename);
-
+gboolean     save_texture    (GdkTexture *texture,
+                              const char *filename);
 
 gboolean        find_format_by_name      (const char      *name,
                                           GdkMemoryFormat *format);
diff --git a/tools/meson.build b/tools/meson.build
index a5cfd739f0..628845b15f 100644
--- a/tools/meson.build
+++ b/tools/meson.build
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ if win32_enabled
   extra_update_icon_cache_objs = import('windows').compile_resources(uac_rc)
 endif
 
+extra_image_tool_sources = []
+
+if avif_dep.found()
+  extra_image_tool_sources = ['../gdk/loaders/gdkavif.c']
+endif
+
 gtk_tools = [
   ['gtk4-path-tool', ['gtk-path-tool.c',
                       'gtk-path-tool-decompose.c',
@@ -56,7 +62,8 @@ gtk_tools = [
                        'gtk-image-tool-relabel.c',
                        'gtk-image-tool-show.c',
                        'gtk-image-tool-utils.c',
-                        '../testsuite/reftests/reftest-compare.c'], [libgtk_dep] ],
+                        '../testsuite/reftests/reftest-compare.c'] + extra_image_tool_sources,
+                        [libgtk_dep] ],
   ['gtk4-update-icon-cache', ['updateiconcache.c', '../gtk/gtkiconcachevalidator.c' ] + extra_update_icon_cache_objs, [ libgtk_dep ] ],
   ['gtk4-encode-symbolic-svg', ['encodesymbolic.c'], [ libgtk_static_dep ] ],
 ]