diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.cpp
index 113486e3e3d0f2f1..2263d6530ec6b672 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ namespace libcamera {
 
 LOG_DECLARE_CATEGORY(IPU3)
 
+static const std::map<uint32_t, PixelFormat> sensorMbusToPixel = {
+	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SBGGR10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SBGGR10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
+	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGBRG10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SGBRG10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
+	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGRBG10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SGRBG10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
+	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SRGGB10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SRGGB10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
+};
+
 /**
  * \brief Initialize components of the CIO2 device with \a index
  * \param[in] media The CIO2 media device
@@ -153,6 +160,43 @@ int CIO2Device::configure(const Size &size, V4L2DeviceFormat *outputFormat)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+StreamConfiguration
+CIO2Device::generateConfiguration(const PixelFormat desiredPixelFormat,
+				  const Size desiredSize) const
+{
+	StreamConfiguration cfg;
+
+	/* If no desired pixelformat allow all supported.*/
+	std::vector<unsigned int> mbusCodes = {
+		MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SBGGR10_1X10,
+		MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGBRG10_1X10,
+		MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGRBG10_1X10,
+		MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SRGGB10_1X10
+	};
+	if (desiredPixelFormat.isValid()) {
+		for (const auto &iter : sensorMbusToPixel) {
+			if (iter.second == desiredPixelFormat) {
+				mbusCodes = { iter.first };
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* If no desired size use the sensor resolution. */
+	Size size = sensor_->resolution();
+	if (desiredSize.width && desiredSize.height)
+		size = desiredSize;
+
+	/* Query the sensor static information for closest match. */
+	V4L2SubdeviceFormat sensorFormat = sensor_->getFormat(mbusCodes, size);
+
+	cfg.size = sensorFormat.size;
+	cfg.pixelFormat = sensorMbusToPixel.at(sensorFormat.mbus_code);
+	cfg.bufferCount = CIO2_BUFFER_COUNT;
+
+	return cfg;
+}
+
 /**
  * \brief Allocate frame buffers for the CIO2 output
  *
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.h b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.h
index d923038bb4ba356f..2e268a7154b2d241 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.h
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/cio2.h
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 
 #include <linux/media-bus-format.h>
 
+#include <libcamera/stream.h>
+
 #include "libcamera/internal/camera_sensor.h"
 #include "libcamera/internal/media_device.h"
 #include "libcamera/internal/v4l2_subdevice.h"
@@ -39,6 +41,9 @@ public:
 	int init(const MediaDevice *media, unsigned int index);
 	int configure(const Size &size, V4L2DeviceFormat *outputFormat);
 
+	StreamConfiguration generateConfiguration(const PixelFormat desiredPixelFormat = {},
+						  const Size desiredSize = {}) const;
+
 	int allocateBuffers();
 	void freeBuffers();
 
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp
index 2047deac299dbf75..56cc3ca10414f0d2 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp
@@ -35,13 +35,6 @@ LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(IPU3)
 
 class IPU3CameraData;
 
-static const std::map<uint32_t, PixelFormat> sensorMbusToPixel = {
-	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SBGGR10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SBGGR10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
-	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGBRG10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SGBRG10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
-	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGRBG10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SGRBG10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
-	{ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SRGGB10_1X10, PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SRGGB10, IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED) },
-};
-
 class ImgUDevice
 {
 public:
@@ -146,7 +139,7 @@ public:
 
 	Status validate() override;
 
-	const V4L2SubdeviceFormat &sensorFormat() { return sensorFormat_; }
+	const StreamConfiguration &sensorFormat() const { return sensorFormat_; };
 	const std::vector<const IPU3Stream *> &streams() { return streams_; }
 
 private:
@@ -164,7 +157,7 @@ private:
 	std::shared_ptr<Camera> camera_;
 	const IPU3CameraData *data_;
 
-	V4L2SubdeviceFormat sensorFormat_;
+	StreamConfiguration sensorFormat_;
 	std::vector<const IPU3Stream *> streams_;
 };
 
@@ -313,7 +306,6 @@ void IPU3CameraConfiguration::adjustStream(StreamConfiguration &cfg, bool scale)
 
 CameraConfiguration::Status IPU3CameraConfiguration::validate()
 {
-	const CameraSensor *sensor = data_->cio2_.sensor_;
 	Status status = Valid;
 
 	if (config_.empty())
@@ -325,32 +317,21 @@ CameraConfiguration::Status IPU3CameraConfiguration::validate()
 		status = Adjusted;
 	}
 
-	/*
-	 * Select the sensor format by collecting the maximum width and height
-	 * and picking the closest larger match, as the IPU3 can downscale
-	 * only. If no resolution is requested for any stream, or if no sensor
-	 * resolution is large enough, pick the largest one.
-	 */
+	/* Find largets size and raw format (if any) in the configuration. */
 	Size size = {};
-
+	PixelFormat pixelFormat = {};
 	for (const StreamConfiguration &cfg : config_) {
 		if (cfg.size.width > size.width)
 			size.width = cfg.size.width;
 		if (cfg.size.height > size.height)
 			size.height = cfg.size.height;
+
+		if (cfg.pixelFormat.modifier() == IPU3_FORMAT_MOD_PACKED)
+			pixelFormat = cfg.pixelFormat;
 	}
 
-	if (!size.width || !size.height)
-		size = sensor->resolution();
-
-	sensorFormat_ = sensor->getFormat({ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SBGGR10_1X10,
-					    MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGBRG10_1X10,
-					    MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGRBG10_1X10,
-					    MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SRGGB10_1X10 },
-					  size);
-	if (!sensorFormat_.size.width || !sensorFormat_.size.height)
-		sensorFormat_.size = sensor->resolution();
-
+	/* Generate raw configuration from CIO2. */
+	sensorFormat_ = data_->cio2_.generateConfiguration(pixelFormat, size);
 
 	/* Assign streams to each configuration entry. */
 	if (updateStreams())
@@ -363,13 +344,7 @@ CameraConfiguration::Status IPU3CameraConfiguration::validate()
 		const IPU3Stream *stream = streams_[i];
 
 		if (stream->raw_) {
-			const auto &itFormat =
-				sensorMbusToPixel.find(sensorFormat_.mbus_code);
-			if (itFormat == sensorMbusToPixel.end())
-				return Invalid;
-
-			cfg.pixelFormat = itFormat->second;
-			cfg.size = sensorFormat_.size;
+			cfg = sensorFormat_;
 		} else {
 			bool scale = stream == &data_->vfStream_;
 			adjustStream(config_[i], scale);
@@ -452,17 +427,7 @@ CameraConfiguration *PipelineHandlerIPU3::generateConfiguration(Camera *camera,
 			}
 
 			stream = &data->rawStream_;
-
-			cfg.size = data->cio2_.sensor_->resolution();
-
-			V4L2SubdeviceFormat sensorFormat =
-				data->cio2_.sensor_->getFormat({ MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SBGGR10_1X10,
-								 MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGBRG10_1X10,
-								 MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SGRBG10_1X10,
-								 MEDIA_BUS_FMT_SRGGB10_1X10 },
-							       cfg.size);
-			cfg.pixelFormat =
-				sensorMbusToPixel.at(sensorFormat.mbus_code);
+			cfg = data->cio2_.generateConfiguration();
 			break;
 		}