diff --git a/include/libcamera/file_descriptor.h b/include/libcamera/file_descriptor.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000..e05f111d128e0ab1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/libcamera/file_descriptor.h
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later */
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2019, Google Inc.
+ *
+ * file_descriptor.h - File descriptor wrapper
+ */
+#ifndef __LIBCAMERA_FILE_DESCRIPTOR_H__
+#define __LIBCAMERA_FILE_DESCRIPTOR_H__
+
+namespace libcamera {
+
+class FileDescriptor final
+{
+public:
+	explicit FileDescriptor(int fd = -1);
+	explicit FileDescriptor(const FileDescriptor &other);
+	explicit FileDescriptor(FileDescriptor &&other);
+	~FileDescriptor();
+
+	FileDescriptor &operator=(const FileDescriptor &other);
+	FileDescriptor &operator=(FileDescriptor &&other);
+
+	int fd() const { return fd_; }
+
+private:
+	void duplicate(int fd);
+
+	int fd_;
+};
+
+} /* namespace libcamera */
+
+#endif /* __LIBCAMERA_FILE_DESCRIPTOR_H__ */
diff --git a/include/libcamera/meson.build b/include/libcamera/meson.build
index 99abf06099407c1f..543e6773cc5158a0 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/meson.build
+++ b/include/libcamera/meson.build
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ libcamera_api = files([
     'controls.h',
     'event_dispatcher.h',
     'event_notifier.h',
+    'file_descriptor.h',
     'geometry.h',
     'logging.h',
     'object.h',
diff --git a/src/libcamera/file_descriptor.cpp b/src/libcamera/file_descriptor.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000..fd87753b456fc3b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/libcamera/file_descriptor.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later */
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2019, Google Inc.
+ *
+ * file_descriptor.cpp - File descriptor wrapper
+ */
+
+#include <libcamera/file_descriptor.h>
+
+#include <string.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <utility>
+
+#include "log.h"
+
+/**
+ * \file file_descriptor.h
+ * \brief File descriptor wrapper
+ */
+
+namespace libcamera {
+
+LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(FileDescriptor)
+
+/**
+ * \class FileDescriptor
+ * \brief RAII-style wrapper for file descriptors
+ *
+ * The FileDescriptor class wraps a file descriptor (expressed as a signed
+ * integer) to provide an RAII-style mechanism for owning the file descriptor.
+ * When constructed, the FileDescriptor instance duplicates a given file
+ * descriptor and takes ownership of the duplicate as a resource. The copy
+ * constructor and assignment operator duplicate the file descriptor, while the
+ * move version of those methods move the resource and make the original
+ * FileDescriptor invalid. When the FileDescriptor is deleted, it closes the
+ * file descriptor it owns, if any.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * \brief Create a FileDescriptor wrapping a copy of a given \a fd
+ * \param[in] fd File descriptor
+ *
+ * Constructing a FileDescriptor from a numerical file descriptor duplicates the
+ * \a fd and takes ownership of the copy. The original \a fd is left untouched,
+ * and the caller is responsible for closing it when appropriate. The duplicated
+ * file descriptor will be closed automatically when the FileDescriptor instance
+ * is destroyed.
+ */
+FileDescriptor::FileDescriptor(int fd)
+	: fd_(-1)
+{
+	duplicate(fd);
+}
+
+/**
+ * \brief Copy constructor, create a FileDescriptor from a copy of \a other
+ * \param[in] other The other FileDescriptor
+ *
+ * Constructing a FileDescriptor from another FileDescriptor duplicates the
+ * wrapped numerical file descriptor and takes ownership of the copy. The
+ * original FileDescriptor is left untouched, and the caller is responsible for
+ * closing it when appropriate. The duplicated file descriptor will be closed
+ * automatically when the FileDescriptor instance is destroyed.
+ */
+FileDescriptor::FileDescriptor(const FileDescriptor &other)
+	: FileDescriptor(other.fd_)
+{
+}
+
+/**
+ * \brief Move constructor, create a FileDescriptor by taking over \a other
+ * \param[in] other The other FileDescriptor
+ *
+ * Constructing a FileDescriptor by taking over a wrapped numerical file
+ * descriptor and taking ownership of it. The \a other FileDescriptor is
+ * invalidated and set to -1. The taken over file descriptor will be closed
+ * automatically when the FileDescriptor instance is destroyed.
+ */
+FileDescriptor::FileDescriptor(FileDescriptor &&other)
+	: fd_(utils::exchange(other.fd_, -1))
+{
+}
+
+FileDescriptor::~FileDescriptor()
+{
+	if (fd_ != -1)
+		close(fd_);
+}
+
+/**
+ * \brief Copy assignment operator, replace the wrapped file descriptor with a
+ * duplicate from \a other
+ * \param[in] other The other FileDescriptor
+ *
+ * Close the currently wrapped numerical file descriptor if any and duplicate
+ * the file descriptor from \a other. The original FileDescriptor is left
+ * untouched, and the caller is responsible for closing it when appropriate.
+ * The duplicated file descriptor will be closed automatically when the
+ * FileDescriptor instance is destroyed.
+ *
+ * \return A reference to the FileDescriptor
+ */
+FileDescriptor &FileDescriptor::operator=(const FileDescriptor &other)
+{
+	if (fd_ != -1)
+		close(fd_);
+
+	duplicate(other.fd_);
+
+	return *this;
+}
+
+/**
+ * \brief Move assignment operator, replace the wrapped file descriptor by
+ * taking over \a other
+ * \param[in] other The other FileDescriptor
+ *
+ * Close the currently wrapped numerical file descriptor if any and take over
+ * the file descriptor from \a other. The \a other FileDescriptor is invalidated
+ * and set to -1. The taken over file descriptor will be closed automatically
+ * when the FileDescriptor instance is destroyed.
+ *
+ * \return A reference to the FileDescriptor
+ */
+FileDescriptor &FileDescriptor::operator=(FileDescriptor &&other)
+{
+	if (fd_ != -1)
+		close(fd_);
+
+	fd_ = utils::exchange(other.fd_, -1);
+
+	return *this;
+}
+
+/**
+ * \fn FileDescriptor::fd()
+ * \brief Retrieve the numerical file descriptor
+ * \return The numerical file descriptor, which may be -1 if the FileDescriptor
+ * instance doesn't own a file descriptor
+ */
+
+void FileDescriptor::duplicate(int fd)
+{
+	if (fd < 0) {
+		fd_ = -1;
+		return;
+	}
+
+	/* Failing to dup() a fd should not happen and is fatal. */
+	fd_ = dup(fd);
+	if (fd_ == -1) {
+		int ret = -errno;
+		LOG(FileDescriptor, Fatal)
+			<< "Failed to dup() fd: " << strerror(-ret);
+	}
+}
+
+} /* namespace libcamera */
diff --git a/src/libcamera/meson.build b/src/libcamera/meson.build
index c4f965bd7413b37e..722c5bc15afe52ef 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/meson.build
+++ b/src/libcamera/meson.build
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ libcamera_sources = files([
     'event_dispatcher.cpp',
     'event_dispatcher_poll.cpp',
     'event_notifier.cpp',
+    'file_descriptor.cpp',
     'formats.cpp',
     'geometry.cpp',
     'ipa_context_wrapper.cpp',