diff --git a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer-erofs.c b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer-erofs.c
index e9dd7946..64293f11 100644
--- a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer-erofs.c
+++ b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer-erofs.c
@@ -1467,11 +1467,12 @@ static const erofs_inode *lcfs_image_get_erofs_inode(struct lcfs_image_data *dat
 }
 
 static struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_build_node_from_image(struct lcfs_image_data *data,
-						      uint64_t nid);
+						      uint64_t nid,
+						      Hash_table *filter);
 
 static int erofs_readdir_block(struct lcfs_image_data *data,
 			       struct lcfs_node_s *parent, const uint8_t *block,
-			       size_t block_size)
+			       size_t block_size, Hash_table *filter)
 {
 	const struct erofs_dirent *dirents = (struct erofs_dirent *)block;
 	size_t dirents_size = lcfs_u16_from_file(dirents[0].nameoff);
@@ -1511,7 +1512,11 @@ static int erofs_readdir_block(struct lcfs_image_data *data,
 		memcpy(name_buf, child_name, child_name_len);
 		name_buf[child_name_len] = 0;
 
-		child = lcfs_build_node_from_image(data, nid);
+		if (filter != NULL && hash_lookup(filter, name_buf) == NULL) {
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		child = lcfs_build_node_from_image(data, nid, NULL);
 		if (child == NULL) {
 			if (errno == ENOTSUP)
 				continue; /* Skip real whiteouts (00-ff) */
@@ -1593,7 +1598,7 @@ static int lcfs_build_node_erofs_xattr(struct lcfs_node_s *node, uint8_t name_in
 }
 
 static struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_build_node_from_image(struct lcfs_image_data *data,
-						      uint64_t nid)
+						      uint64_t nid, Hash_table *filter)
 {
 	const erofs_inode *cino;
 	cleanup_node struct lcfs_node_s *node = NULL;
@@ -1715,19 +1720,24 @@ static struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_build_node_from_image(struct lcfs_image_data *da
 				}
 			}
 
-			if (erofs_readdir_block(data, node, block_data, block_size) < 0)
+			if (erofs_readdir_block(data, node, block_data,
+						block_size, filter) < 0)
 				return NULL;
 		}
 
 		/* Then inline */
 		if (tailpacked) {
-			if (erofs_readdir_block(data, node, tail_data, tail_size) < 0)
+			if (erofs_readdir_block(data, node, tail_data,
+						tail_size, filter) < 0)
 				return NULL;
 		}
 
 	} else if (type == S_IFLNK) {
 		char name_buf[PATH_MAX];
 
+		// Filter only applies to toplevel
+		assert(filter == NULL);
+
 		if (file_size >= PATH_MAX || !tailpacked) {
 			errno = EINVAL;
 			return NULL;
@@ -1742,6 +1752,9 @@ static struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_build_node_from_image(struct lcfs_image_data *da
 		cleanup_free uint8_t *content = NULL;
 		size_t oob_size;
 
+		// Filter only applies to toplevel
+		assert(filter == NULL);
+
 		content = malloc(file_size);
 		if (content == NULL) {
 			errno = ENOMEM;
@@ -1840,8 +1853,19 @@ static bool node_ht_comparator(const void *d1, const void *d2)
 	return v1->nid == v2->nid;
 }
 
-struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_image(const uint8_t *image_data,
-					      size_t image_data_size)
+static size_t str_ht_hash(const void *entry, size_t table_size)
+{
+	return hash_string(entry, table_size);
+}
+
+static bool str_ht_eq(const void *entry1, const void *entry2)
+{
+	return strcmp(entry1, entry2) == 0;
+}
+
+struct lcfs_node_s *
+lcfs_load_node_from_image_ext(const uint8_t *image_data, size_t image_data_size,
+			      const struct lcfs_read_options_s *opts)
 {
 	const uint8_t *image_data_end;
 	struct lcfs_image_data data = { image_data, image_data_size };
@@ -1850,6 +1874,8 @@ struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_image(const uint8_t *image_data,
 	uint64_t erofs_root_nid;
 	struct lcfs_node_s *root;
 
+	assert(opts);
+
 	if (image_data_size < EROFS_BLKSIZ) {
 		errno = EINVAL;
 		return NULL;
@@ -1909,9 +1935,39 @@ struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_image(const uint8_t *image_data,
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	root = lcfs_build_node_from_image(&data, erofs_root_nid);
+	Hash_table *toplevel_entries_hash = NULL;
+	if (opts->toplevel_entries) {
+		toplevel_entries_hash =
+			hash_initialize(0, NULL, str_ht_hash, str_ht_eq, NULL);
+		if (toplevel_entries_hash == NULL) {
+			errno = ENOMEM;
+			return NULL;
+		}
+		for (const char *const *it = opts->toplevel_entries; it && *it; it++) {
+			const char *name = *it;
+			if (hash_insert_if_absent(toplevel_entries_hash, name,
+						  NULL) < 0) {
+				errno = ENOMEM;
+				return NULL;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	root = lcfs_build_node_from_image(&data, erofs_root_nid,
+					  toplevel_entries_hash);
 
+	if (toplevel_entries_hash != NULL)
+		hash_free(toplevel_entries_hash);
 	hash_free(data.node_hash);
 
 	return root;
 }
+
+struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_image(const uint8_t *image_data,
+					      size_t image_data_size)
+{
+	struct lcfs_read_options_s opts = {
+		0,
+	};
+	return lcfs_load_node_from_image_ext(image_data, image_data_size, &opts);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c
index 209781c2..10ce35c7 100644
--- a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c
+++ b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c
@@ -843,7 +843,8 @@ int lcfs_version_from_fd(int fd)
 	return r;
 }
 
-struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_fd(int fd)
+struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_fd_ext(int fd,
+					       const struct lcfs_read_options_s *opts)
 {
 	struct lcfs_node_s *node;
 	uint8_t *image_data;
@@ -864,7 +865,7 @@ struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_fd(int fd)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	node = lcfs_load_node_from_image(image_data, image_data_size);
+	node = lcfs_load_node_from_image_ext(image_data, image_data_size, opts);
 	if (node == NULL) {
 		errsv = errno;
 		munmap(image_data, image_data_size);
@@ -877,6 +878,14 @@ struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_fd(int fd)
 	return node;
 }
 
+struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_fd(int fd)
+{
+	struct lcfs_read_options_s opts = {
+		0,
+	};
+	return lcfs_load_node_from_fd_ext(fd, &opts);
+}
+
 int lcfs_node_set_payload(struct lcfs_node_s *node, const char *payload)
 {
 	char *dup = NULL;
diff --git a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.h b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.h
index 10927fb7..b8ef7a72 100644
--- a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.h
+++ b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.h
@@ -82,7 +82,20 @@ LCFS_EXTERN struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_file(int dirfd, const char *
 							 int buildflags);
 LCFS_EXTERN struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_image(const uint8_t *image_data,
 							  size_t image_data_size);
+struct lcfs_read_options_s {
+	// If non-NULL, this is a NULL terminated array of filenames; only entries
+	// for these files will be loaded. At the current time only filenames (not full paths)
+	// are supported.
+	const char *const *toplevel_entries;
+	uint32_t reserved[3];
+	void *reserved2[4];
+};
+LCFS_EXTERN struct lcfs_node_s *
+lcfs_load_node_from_image_ext(const uint8_t *image_data, size_t image_data_size,
+			      const struct lcfs_read_options_s *opts);
 LCFS_EXTERN struct lcfs_node_s *lcfs_load_node_from_fd(int fd);
+LCFS_EXTERN struct lcfs_node_s *
+lcfs_load_node_from_fd_ext(int fd, const struct lcfs_read_options_s *opts);
 LCFS_EXTERN int lcfs_version_from_fd(int fd);
 
 LCFS_EXTERN const char *lcfs_node_get_xattr(struct lcfs_node_s *node,
diff --git a/man/composefs-info.md b/man/composefs-info.md
index b57705e6..f598ebee 100644
--- a/man/composefs-info.md
+++ b/man/composefs-info.md
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ can be specified.
 :   This should point to a directory of backing files, and will be used
     by the **missing-objects** command to know what files are available.
 
+**\-\-filter**=*NAME*
+:   Only print entries whose name matches one of these. Can be specified
+    multiple times. Cannot be a full path (e.g. cannot contain `/`).
+    This is intended to be used for tooling to efficiently lookup metadata
+    files embedded in the image without loading and printing the entire
+    image.
+
 # SEE ALSO
 **composefs-info(1)**, **composefs-dump(5)**
 
diff --git a/tests/meson.build b/tests/meson.build
index e7068b00..f25ceec8 100644
--- a/tests/meson.build
+++ b/tests/meson.build
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ extra_dist = [
   'test-units.sh',
   'test-random-fuse.sh',
   'test-checksums.sh',
+  'test-dump-filtered.sh',
   'test-should-fail.sh',
   'integration.sh',
 ]
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ tools_dir = meson.current_build_dir() / '../tools'
 
 test('check-units', find_program('test-units.sh'), args : [tools_dir])
 test('check-checksums', find_program('test-checksums.sh'), args : [tools_dir, meson.current_source_dir() / 'assets', ' '.join(test_assets)])
+test('check-dump-filtered', find_program('test-dump-filtered.sh'), args : [tools_dir, meson.current_source_dir() / 'assets'])
 test('check-random-fuse', find_program('test-random-fuse.sh'), args : [tools_dir], timeout : 300)
 should_fail_args = [tools_dir]
 foreach case : test_assets_should_fail
diff --git a/tests/test-dump-filtered.sh b/tests/test-dump-filtered.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..11a6bbd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-dump-filtered.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+BINDIR="$1"
+ASSET_DIR="$2"
+
+. $(dirname $0)/test-lib.sh
+
+set -eu
+tmpd=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf -- "$tmpd"' EXIT
+
+${BINDIR}/mkcomposefs --from-file $ASSET_DIR/special.dump $tmpd/out.cfs
+${BINDIR}/composefs-info --filter=chardev --filter=inline --filter=whiteout dump $tmpd/out.cfs > $tmpd/dump.txt
+foundlines=$(wc -l < $tmpd/dump.txt)
+if test "${foundlines}" != "4"; then
+    fatal "Filtered dump failed, expected 4 lines, found $foundlines"
+fi
+assert_file_has_content $tmpd/dump.txt '^/ 4096 40555.*trusted.foo1'
+assert_file_has_content $tmpd/dump.txt '^/chardev 0 20777'
+assert_file_has_content $tmpd/dump.txt '^/inline 15 100777.*FOOBAR'
+assert_file_has_content $tmpd/dump.txt '^/whiteout 0 20777'
+echo "ok"
diff --git a/tools/composefs-info.c b/tools/composefs-info.c
index 63bc78b5..6c616456 100644
--- a/tools/composefs-info.c
+++ b/tools/composefs-info.c
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@
 #define ESCAPE_LONE_DASH (1 << 2)
 
 const char *opt_basedir_path;
+// Counting for a NULL terminated char array...so painful to reimplement each time in C
+static size_t n_filters;
+static size_t filter_capacity = 1;
+static char **opt_filter;
 int opt_basedir_fd;
 
 static locale_t c_locale;
@@ -369,6 +373,7 @@ static void usage(const char *argv0)
 }
 
 #define OPT_BASEDIR 100
+#define OPT_FILTER 101
 
 // Most of the rest of this code operates on composefs superblocks.  This function
 // just prints the fsverity digest of the provided files.
@@ -414,6 +419,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			flag: NULL,
 			val: OPT_BASEDIR
 		},
+		{
+			name: "filter",
+			has_arg: required_argument,
+			flag: NULL,
+			val: OPT_FILTER
+		},
 		{},
 	};
 
@@ -422,6 +433,24 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		case OPT_BASEDIR:
 			opt_basedir_path = optarg;
 			break;
+		case OPT_FILTER:
+			// Ensure we have space for the NULL terminator
+			if (opt_filter == NULL || (n_filters + 1) >= filter_capacity) {
+				filter_capacity *= 2;
+				opt_filter = reallocarray(opt_filter, filter_capacity,
+							  sizeof(char *));
+				if (opt_filter == NULL)
+					oom();
+			}
+			if (strchr(optarg, '/') != NULL) {
+				err(EXIT_FAILURE,
+				    "Filter must be a single name: %s", optarg);
+			}
+			opt_filter[n_filters] = strdup(optarg);
+			if (opt_filter[n_filters] == NULL)
+				oom();
+			n_filters++;
+			break;
 		case ':':
 			fprintf(stderr, "option needs a value\n");
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
@@ -486,6 +515,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (handler_init)
 		handler_data = handler_init();
 
+	// Ensure filters are NULL terminated
+	if (opt_filter)
+		opt_filter[n_filters] = NULL;
+
 	for (int i = 2; i < argc; i++) {
 		const char *image_path = image_path = argv[i];
 
@@ -494,7 +527,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			err(EXIT_FAILURE, "Failed to open '%s'", image_path);
 		}
 
-		cleanup_node struct lcfs_node_s *root = lcfs_load_node_from_fd(fd);
+		const char *const *toplevel_entries = (const char *const *)opt_filter;
+		struct lcfs_read_options_s opts = { .toplevel_entries =
+							    toplevel_entries };
+		cleanup_node struct lcfs_node_s *root =
+			lcfs_load_node_from_fd_ext(fd, &opts);
 		if (root == NULL) {
 			err(EXIT_FAILURE, "Failed to load '%s'", image_path);
 		}