diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-impl.h b/ggml/src/ggml-impl.h
index f961134e..549772c5 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-impl.h
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-impl.h
@@ -551,6 +551,22 @@ static inline ggml_bf16_t ggml_compute_fp32_to_bf16(float s) {
 #define GGML_FP32_TO_BF16(x) ggml_compute_fp32_to_bf16(x)
 #define GGML_BF16_TO_FP32(x) ggml_compute_bf16_to_fp32(x)
 
+// expose GGUF internals for test code
+
+GGML_API size_t gguf_type_size(enum gguf_type type);
+
+GGML_API struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file_impl(FILE * file, struct gguf_init_params params);
+
+struct gguf_buf {
+    void * data;
+    size_t size;
+    size_t offset;
+};
+GGML_API struct gguf_buf gguf_buf_init(size_t size);
+GGML_API void gguf_buf_free(struct gguf_buf buf);
+
+GGML_API void gguf_write_to_buf(const struct gguf_context * ctx, struct gguf_buf * buf, bool only_meta);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml.c b/ggml/src/ggml.c
index 030d93a5..0efd2b2e 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml.c
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml.c
@@ -6489,7 +6489,7 @@ struct gguf_context {
     void * data;
 };
 
-static size_t gguf_type_size(enum gguf_type type) {
+size_t gguf_type_size(enum gguf_type type) {
     GGML_ASSERT(0 <= type && type < GGUF_TYPE_COUNT);
     return GGUF_TYPE_SIZE[type];
 }
@@ -6617,13 +6617,7 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_empty(void) {
     return ctx;
 }
 
-struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_params params) {
-    FILE * file = ggml_fopen(fname, "rb");
-    if (!file) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to open '%s': '%s'\n", __func__, fname, strerror(errno));
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
+struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file_impl(FILE * file, struct gguf_init_params params) {
     // offset from start of file
     size_t offset = 0;
 
@@ -6636,7 +6630,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
         for (uint32_t i = 0; i < sizeof(magic); i++) {
             if (magic[i] != GGUF_MAGIC[i]) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "%s: invalid magic characters '%c%c%c%c'\n", __func__, magic[0], magic[1], magic[2], magic[3]);
-                fclose(file);
                 return NULL;
             }
         }
@@ -6647,7 +6640,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
     struct gguf_context * ctx = calloc(1, sizeof(struct gguf_context));
     if (!ctx) {
         fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to allocate memory for context\n", __func__);
-        fclose(file);
         return NULL;
     }
 
@@ -6665,7 +6657,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
 
         if (ctx->header.version == 1) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: GGUFv1 is no longer supported. please use a more up-to-date version\n", __func__);
-            fclose(file);
             gguf_free(ctx);
             return NULL;
         }
@@ -6678,7 +6669,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
 
         if (!ok) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to read header\n", __func__);
-            fclose(file);
             gguf_free(ctx);
             return NULL;
         }
@@ -6688,12 +6678,13 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
     {
         const uint64_t n_kv = ctx->header.n_kv;
 
-        ctx->kv = calloc(n_kv, sizeof(struct gguf_kv));
-        if (!ctx->kv) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to allocate memory for kv pairs\n", __func__);
-            fclose(file);
-            gguf_free(ctx);
-            return NULL;
+        if (n_kv > 0) {
+            ctx->kv = calloc(n_kv, sizeof(struct gguf_kv));
+            if (!ctx->kv) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to allocate memory for kv pairs\n", __func__);
+                gguf_free(ctx);
+                return NULL;
+            }
         }
 
         for (uint64_t i = 0; i < n_kv; ++i) {
@@ -6740,7 +6731,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
                                     // prevent from integer overflow in the malloc below
                                     if (kv->value.arr.n >= SIZE_MAX/gguf_type_size(kv->value.arr.type)) {
                                         fprintf(stderr, "%s: array size is too large (%" PRIu64 ")\n", __func__, kv->value.arr.n);
-                                        fclose(file);
                                         gguf_free(ctx);
                                         return NULL;
                                     }
@@ -6748,7 +6738,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
                                     kv->value.arr.data = calloc(kv->value.arr.n, gguf_type_size(kv->value.arr.type));
                                     if (!kv->value.arr.data) {
                                         fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to allocate memory for array\n", __func__);
-                                        fclose(file);
                                         gguf_free(ctx);
                                         return NULL;
                                     }
@@ -6760,7 +6749,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
                                     // prevent from integer overflow in the malloc below
                                     if (kv->value.arr.n >= SIZE_MAX/sizeof(struct gguf_str)) {
                                         fprintf(stderr, "%s: array size is too large (%" PRIu64 ")\n", __func__, kv->value.arr.n);
-                                        fclose(file);
                                         gguf_free(ctx);
                                         return NULL;
                                     }
@@ -6768,7 +6756,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
                                     kv->value.arr.data = calloc(kv->value.arr.n, sizeof(struct gguf_str));
                                     if (!kv->value.arr.data) {
                                         fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to allocate memory for array\n", __func__);
-                                        fclose(file);
                                         gguf_free(ctx);
                                         return NULL;
                                     }
@@ -6799,7 +6786,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
 
         if (!ok) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to read key-value pairs\n", __func__);
-            fclose(file);
             gguf_free(ctx);
             return NULL;
         }
@@ -6810,7 +6796,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
         ctx->infos = calloc(ctx->header.n_tensors, sizeof(struct gguf_tensor_info));
         if (!ctx->infos) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to allocate memory for tensor infos\n", __func__);
-            fclose(file);
             gguf_free(ctx);
             return NULL;
         }
@@ -6846,7 +6831,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
 
             if (!ok) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to read tensor info\n", __func__);
-                fclose(file);
                 gguf_free(ctx);
                 return NULL;
             }
@@ -6889,7 +6873,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
                 // this tensor type support have been removed:
                 fprintf(stderr, "%s: tensor '%s' of type %d: %s\n",
                         __func__, info->name.data, (int) info->type, ggml_type_name(info->type));
-                fclose(file);
                 gguf_free(ctx);
                 return NULL;
             }
@@ -6897,7 +6880,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
             if (ne % ggml_blck_size(info->type) != 0) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "%s: tensor '%s' of type %d (%s) number of elements (%" PRId64 ") is not a multiple of block size (%" PRId64 ")\n",
                         __func__, info->name.data, (int) info->type, ggml_type_name(info->type), ne, ggml_blck_size(info->type));
-                fclose(file);
                 gguf_free(ctx);
                 return NULL;
             }
@@ -6929,7 +6911,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
         *params.ctx = ggml_init(pdata);
         if (*params.ctx == NULL) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to initialize context\n", __func__);
-            fclose(file);
             gguf_free(ctx);
             return NULL;
         }
@@ -6948,7 +6929,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
 
             if (!ok) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to read tensor data\n", __func__);
-                fclose(file);
                 ggml_free(ctx_data);
                 gguf_free(ctx);
                 return NULL;
@@ -6987,7 +6967,6 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
 
         if (!ok) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to read the tensor data\n", __func__);
-            fclose(file);
             ggml_free(ctx_data);
             gguf_free(ctx);
             return NULL;
@@ -6996,11 +6975,21 @@ struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_p
         ggml_set_no_alloc(ctx_data, params.no_alloc);
     }
 
-    fclose(file);
-
     return ctx;
 }
 
+struct gguf_context * gguf_init_from_file(const char * fname, struct gguf_init_params params) {
+    FILE * file = ggml_fopen(fname, "rb");
+    if (!file) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s: failed to open '%s': '%s'\n", __func__, fname, strerror(errno));
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    struct gguf_context * result = gguf_init_from_file_impl(file, params);
+    fclose(file);
+    return result;
+}
+
 void gguf_free(struct gguf_context * ctx) {
     if (ctx == NULL) {
         return;
@@ -7460,13 +7449,7 @@ void gguf_set_tensor_data(struct gguf_context * ctx, const char * name, const vo
 //    fwrite(val, sizeof(char), size, file);
 //}
 
-struct gguf_buf {
-    void * data;
-    size_t size;
-    size_t offset;
-};
-
-static struct gguf_buf gguf_buf_init(size_t size) {
+struct gguf_buf gguf_buf_init(size_t size) {
     struct gguf_buf buf = {
         /*buf.data   =*/ size == 0 ? NULL : GGML_CALLOC(1, size),
         /*buf.size   =*/ size,
@@ -7476,7 +7459,7 @@ static struct gguf_buf gguf_buf_init(size_t size) {
     return buf;
 }
 
-static void gguf_buf_free(struct gguf_buf buf) {
+void gguf_buf_free(struct gguf_buf buf) {
     if (buf.data) {
         GGML_FREE(buf.data);
     }
@@ -7514,7 +7497,7 @@ static void gguf_bwrite_el(struct gguf_buf * buf, const void * val, size_t el_si
     buf->offset += el_size;
 }
 
-static void gguf_write_to_buf(const struct gguf_context * ctx, struct gguf_buf * buf, bool only_meta) {
+void gguf_write_to_buf(const struct gguf_context * ctx, struct gguf_buf * buf, bool only_meta) {
     // write header
     gguf_bwrite_el(buf, &ctx->header.magic,     sizeof(ctx->header.magic));
     gguf_bwrite_el(buf, &ctx->header.version,   sizeof(ctx->header.version));