diff --git a/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h b/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h
index 527f1bbc..746a34f8 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ public:
 	const std::string &name() const { return name_; }
 
 	static std::vector<PipelineHandlerFactoryBase *> &factories();
+	static const PipelineHandlerFactoryBase *getFactoryByName(const std::string &name);
 
 private:
 	static void registerType(PipelineHandlerFactoryBase *factory);
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp
index de6d6457..5ea2ca78 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp
@@ -794,6 +794,28 @@ std::vector<PipelineHandlerFactoryBase *> &PipelineHandlerFactoryBase::factories
 	return factories;
 }
 
+/**
+ * \brief Return the factory for the pipeline handler with name \a name
+ * \param[in] name The pipeline handler name
+ * \return The factory of the pipeline with name \a name, or nullptr if not found
+ */
+const PipelineHandlerFactoryBase *PipelineHandlerFactoryBase::getFactoryByName(const std::string &name)
+{
+	const std::vector<PipelineHandlerFactoryBase *> &factories =
+		PipelineHandlerFactoryBase::factories();
+
+	auto iter = std::find_if(factories.begin(),
+				 factories.end(),
+				 [&name](const PipelineHandlerFactoryBase *f) {
+					 return f->name() == name;
+				 });
+
+	if (iter != factories.end())
+		return *iter;
+
+	return nullptr;
+}
+
 /**
  * \class PipelineHandlerFactory
  * \brief Registration of PipelineHandler classes and creation of instances