diff --git a/kitty/graphics.c b/kitty/graphics.c
index 0bd114623..14c3e652a 100644
--- a/kitty/graphics.c
+++ b/kitty/graphics.c
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ image_as_dict(Image *img) {
 
 }
 
-#define W(x) static PyObject* py##x(GraphicsManager *self, PyObject *args)
+#define W(x) static PyObject* py##x(GraphicsManager UNUSED *self, PyObject *args)
 #define PA(fmt, ...) if(!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, fmt, __VA_ARGS__)) return NULL;
 
 W(image_for_client_id) {
@@ -456,10 +456,28 @@ W(image_for_client_id) {
     return image_as_dict(img);
 }
 
+W(shm_open) {
+    char *name;
+    PA("s", &name);
+    int fd = shm_open(name, O_CREAT |  O_RDWR, S_IROTH | S_IRUSR | S_IRGRP | S_IWUSR);
+    if (fd == -1) { PyErr_SetFromErrnoWithFilename(PyExc_OSError, name); return NULL; }
+    return PyLong_FromLong(fd);
+}
+
+W(shm_unlink) {
+    char *name;
+    PA("s", &name);
+    int ret = shm_unlink(name);
+    if (ret == -1) { PyErr_SetFromErrnoWithFilename(PyExc_OSError, name); return NULL; }
+    Py_RETURN_NONE;
+}
+
 #define M(x, va) {#x, (PyCFunction)py##x, va, ""}
 
 static PyMethodDef methods[] = {
     M(image_for_client_id, METH_O),
+    M(shm_open, METH_VARARGS),
+    M(shm_unlink, METH_VARARGS),
     {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
 };
 
diff --git a/kitty_tests/graphics.py b/kitty_tests/graphics.py
index bc8259433..49f54c01c 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/graphics.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/graphics.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from kitty.fast_data_types import parse_bytes
 from . import BaseTest
 
 
-def img_path(name):
+def relpath(name):
     base = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
     return os.path.join(base, name)
 
@@ -86,3 +86,11 @@ class TestGraphics(BaseTest):
         f.seek(0), f.truncate(), f.write(compressed_random_data), f.flush()
         sl(f.name, s=24, v=32, t='t', o='z', expecting_data=random_data)
         self.assertRaises(FileNotFoundError, f.close)  # check that file was deleted
+
+        # Test loading from POSIX SHM
+        name = '/kitty-test-shm'
+        fd = g.shm_open(name)
+        f = os.fdopen(fd, 'wb')
+        f.write(random_data), f.flush(), f.close()
+        sl(name, s=24, v=32, t='s', expecting_data=random_data)
+        self.assertRaises(FileNotFoundError, g.shm_unlink, name)  # check that file was deleted