diff --git a/src/image.rs b/src/image.rs
index 228dfad3fa..2dc928d338 100644
--- a/src/image.rs
+++ b/src/image.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use std::usize;
 
 use crate::ImageBuffer;
 use crate::color::{ColorType, ExtendedColorType};
-use crate::error::{ImageError, ImageResult, LimitError, LimitErrorKind, ParameterError, ParameterErrorKind};
+use crate::error::{ImageError, ImageFormatHint, ImageResult, LimitError, LimitErrorKind, ParameterError, ParameterErrorKind};
 use crate::math::Rect;
 use crate::traits::Pixel;
 
@@ -65,11 +65,46 @@ pub enum ImageFormat {
 }
 
 impl ImageFormat {
+    /// Return the image format specified by a path's file extension.
+    pub fn from_extension(ext: &str) -> Option<Self> {
+        let ext = ext.to_ascii_lowercase();
+
+        Some(match ext.as_str() {
+            "jpg" | "jpeg" => ImageFormat::Jpeg,
+            "png" => ImageFormat::Png,
+            "gif" => ImageFormat::Gif,
+            "webp" => ImageFormat::WebP,
+            "tif" | "tiff" => ImageFormat::Tiff,
+            "tga" => ImageFormat::Tga,
+            "dds" => ImageFormat::Dds,
+            "bmp" => ImageFormat::Bmp,
+            "ico" => ImageFormat::Ico,
+            "hdr" => ImageFormat::Hdr,
+            "pbm" | "pam" | "ppm" | "pgm" => ImageFormat::Pnm,
+            "ff" | "farbfeld" => ImageFormat::Farbfeld,
+            _ => return None,
+        })
+    }
+
     /// Return the image format specified by the path's file extension.
+    #[inline]
     pub fn from_path<P>(path: P) -> ImageResult<Self> where P : AsRef<Path> {
-        // thin wrapper function to strip generics before calling from_path_impl
-        crate::io::free_functions::guess_format_from_path_impl(path.as_ref())
-            .map_err(Into::into)
+        // thin wrapper function to strip generics
+        fn inner(path: &Path) -> ImageResult<ImageFormat> {
+            let exact_ext = path.extension();
+            exact_ext
+                .and_then(|s| s.to_str())
+                .and_then(|ext| ImageFormat::from_extension(ext))
+                .ok_or_else(|| {
+                    let format_hint = match exact_ext {
+                        None => ImageFormatHint::Unknown,
+                        Some(os) => ImageFormatHint::PathExtension(os.into()),
+                    };
+                    ImageError::Unsupported(format_hint.into())
+                })
+        }
+
+        inner(path.as_ref())
     }
 
     /// Return a list of applicable extensions for this format.
diff --git a/src/io/free_functions.rs b/src/io/free_functions.rs
index a34d88484a..95c8e3fdaf 100644
--- a/src/io/free_functions.rs
+++ b/src/io/free_functions.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-use std::ffi::OsString;
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader, BufWriter, Seek};
 use std::path::Path;
@@ -39,14 +38,6 @@ use crate::image::ImageFormat;
 #[allow(unused_imports)]  // When no features are supported
 use crate::image::{ImageDecoder, ImageEncoder};
 
-/// Internal error type for guessing format from path.
-pub(crate) enum PathError {
-    /// The extension did not fit a supported format.
-    UnknownExtension(OsString),
-    /// Extension could not be converted to `str`.
-    NoExtension,
-}
-
 pub(crate) fn open_impl(path: &Path) -> ImageResult<DynamicImage> {
     let fin = match File::open(path) {
         Ok(f) => f,
@@ -224,37 +215,6 @@ pub(crate) fn save_buffer_with_format_impl(
     }
 }
 
-/// Guess format from a path.
-///
-/// Returns `PathError::NoExtension` if the path has no extension or returns a
-/// `PathError::UnknownExtension` containing the extension if  it can not be convert to a `str`.
-pub(crate) fn guess_format_from_path_impl(path: &Path) -> Result<ImageFormat, PathError> {
-    let exact_ext = path.extension();
-    let ext = exact_ext
-        .and_then(|s| s.to_str())
-        .map_or("".to_string(), |s| s.to_ascii_lowercase());
-
-    Ok(match ext.as_str() {
-        "jpg" | "jpeg" => image::ImageFormat::Jpeg,
-        "png" => image::ImageFormat::Png,
-        "gif" => image::ImageFormat::Gif,
-        "webp" => image::ImageFormat::WebP,
-        "tif" | "tiff" => image::ImageFormat::Tiff,
-        "tga" => image::ImageFormat::Tga,
-        "dds" => image::ImageFormat::Dds,
-        "bmp" => image::ImageFormat::Bmp,
-        "ico" => image::ImageFormat::Ico,
-        "hdr" => image::ImageFormat::Hdr,
-        "pbm" | "pam" | "ppm" | "pgm" => image::ImageFormat::Pnm,
-        "ff" | "farbfeld" => image::ImageFormat::Farbfeld,
-        // The original extension is used, instead of _format
-        _ => return match exact_ext {
-            None => Err(PathError::NoExtension),
-            Some(os) => Err(PathError::UnknownExtension(os.to_owned())),
-        },
-    })
-}
-
 static MAGIC_BYTES: [(&[u8], ImageFormat); 19] = [
     (b"\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n", ImageFormat::Png),
     (&[0xff, 0xd8, 0xff], ImageFormat::Jpeg),
@@ -298,13 +258,3 @@ pub(crate) fn guess_format_impl(buffer: &[u8]) -> Option<ImageFormat> {
 
     None
 }
-
-impl From<PathError> for ImageError {
-    fn from(path: PathError) -> Self {
-        let format_hint = match path {
-            PathError::NoExtension => ImageFormatHint::Unknown,
-            PathError::UnknownExtension(ext) => ImageFormatHint::PathExtension(ext.into()),
-        };
-        ImageError::Unsupported(format_hint.into())
-    }
-}