diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/debugfs.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/debugfs.c
index a8098b406cc0..a244a36c19bc 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/debugfs.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/debugfs.c
@@ -1553,6 +1553,30 @@ static const struct file_operations fops_led_blink_time = {
 	.open  = simple_open,
 };
 
+/*---------FW capabilities------------*/
+static int wil_fw_capabilities_debugfs_show(struct seq_file *s, void *data)
+{
+	struct wil6210_priv *wil = s->private;
+
+	seq_printf(s, "fw_capabilities : %*pb\n", WMI_FW_CAPABILITY_MAX,
+		   wil->fw_capabilities);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int wil_fw_capabilities_seq_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
+{
+	return single_open(file, wil_fw_capabilities_debugfs_show,
+			   inode->i_private);
+}
+
+static const struct file_operations fops_fw_capabilities = {
+	.open		= wil_fw_capabilities_seq_open,
+	.release	= single_release,
+	.read		= seq_read,
+	.llseek		= seq_lseek,
+};
+
 /*----------------*/
 static void wil6210_debugfs_init_blobs(struct wil6210_priv *wil,
 				       struct dentry *dbg)
@@ -1603,6 +1627,7 @@ static const struct {
 	{"recovery",	S_IRUGO | S_IWUSR,	&fops_recovery},
 	{"led_cfg",	S_IRUGO | S_IWUSR,	&fops_led_cfg},
 	{"led_blink_time",	S_IRUGO | S_IWUSR,	&fops_led_blink_time},
+	{"fw_capabilities",	S_IRUGO,	&fops_fw_capabilities},
 };
 
 static void wil6210_debugfs_init_files(struct wil6210_priv *wil,
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw.h
index 7a2c6c129ad5..c3191c61832c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2014 Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.
+ * Copyright (c) 2014,2016 Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.
  *
  * Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
  * purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
@@ -58,6 +58,15 @@ struct wil_fw_record_comment { /* type == wil_fw_type_comment */
 	u8 data[0]; /* free-form data [data_size], see above */
 } __packed;
 
+/* FW capabilities encoded inside a comment record */
+#define WIL_FW_CAPABILITIES_MAGIC (0xabcddcba)
+struct wil_fw_record_capabilities { /* type == wil_fw_type_comment */
+	/* identifies capabilities record */
+	__le32 magic;
+	/* capabilities (variable size), see enum wmi_fw_capability */
+	u8 capabilities[0];
+};
+
 /* perform action
  * data_size = @head.size - offsetof(struct wil_fw_record_action, data)
  */
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw_inc.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw_inc.c
index d30657ee7e83..3860238840ba 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw_inc.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/fw_inc.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2014-2015 Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2016 Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.
  *
  * Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
  * purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ static int wil_fw_verify(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const u8 *data, size_t size)
 	return (int)dlen;
 }
 
+static int fw_ignore_section(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
+			     size_t size)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int fw_handle_comment(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
 			     size_t size)
 {
@@ -126,6 +132,27 @@ static int fw_handle_comment(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+fw_handle_capabilities(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
+		       size_t size)
+{
+	const struct wil_fw_record_capabilities *rec = data;
+	size_t capa_size;
+
+	if (size < sizeof(*rec) ||
+	    le32_to_cpu(rec->magic) != WIL_FW_CAPABILITIES_MAGIC)
+		return 0;
+
+	capa_size = size - offsetof(struct wil_fw_record_capabilities,
+				    capabilities);
+	bitmap_zero(wil->fw_capabilities, WMI_FW_CAPABILITY_MAX);
+	memcpy(wil->fw_capabilities, rec->capabilities,
+	       min(sizeof(wil->fw_capabilities), capa_size));
+	wil_hex_dump_fw("CAPA", DUMP_PREFIX_OFFSET, 16, 1,
+			rec->capabilities, capa_size, false);
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int fw_handle_data(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
 			  size_t size)
 {
@@ -383,42 +410,51 @@ static int fw_handle_gateway_data4(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
 
 static const struct {
 	int type;
-	int (*handler)(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data, size_t size);
+	int (*load_handler)(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
+			    size_t size);
+	int (*parse_handler)(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
+			     size_t size);
 } wil_fw_handlers[] = {
-	{wil_fw_type_comment, fw_handle_comment},
-	{wil_fw_type_data, fw_handle_data},
-	{wil_fw_type_fill, fw_handle_fill},
+	{wil_fw_type_comment, fw_handle_comment, fw_handle_capabilities},
+	{wil_fw_type_data, fw_handle_data, fw_ignore_section},
+	{wil_fw_type_fill, fw_handle_fill, fw_ignore_section},
 	/* wil_fw_type_action */
 	/* wil_fw_type_verify */
-	{wil_fw_type_file_header, fw_handle_file_header},
-	{wil_fw_type_direct_write, fw_handle_direct_write},
-	{wil_fw_type_gateway_data, fw_handle_gateway_data},
-	{wil_fw_type_gateway_data4, fw_handle_gateway_data4},
+	{wil_fw_type_file_header, fw_handle_file_header,
+		fw_handle_file_header},
+	{wil_fw_type_direct_write, fw_handle_direct_write, fw_ignore_section},
+	{wil_fw_type_gateway_data, fw_handle_gateway_data, fw_ignore_section},
+	{wil_fw_type_gateway_data4, fw_handle_gateway_data4,
+		fw_ignore_section},
 };
 
 static int wil_fw_handle_record(struct wil6210_priv *wil, int type,
-				const void *data, size_t size)
+				const void *data, size_t size, bool load)
 {
 	int i;
 
-	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(wil_fw_handlers); i++) {
+	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(wil_fw_handlers); i++)
 		if (wil_fw_handlers[i].type == type)
-			return wil_fw_handlers[i].handler(wil, data, size);
-	}
+			return load ?
+				wil_fw_handlers[i].load_handler(
+					wil, data, size) :
+				wil_fw_handlers[i].parse_handler(
+					wil, data, size);
 
 	wil_err_fw(wil, "unknown record type: %d\n", type);
 	return -EINVAL;
 }
 
 /**
- * wil_fw_load - load FW into device
- *
- * Load the FW and uCode code and data to the corresponding device
- * memory regions
+ * wil_fw_process - process section from FW file
+ * if load is true: Load the FW and uCode code and data to the
+ * corresponding device memory regions,
+ * otherwise only parse and look for capabilities
  *
  * Return error code
  */
-static int wil_fw_load(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data, size_t size)
+static int wil_fw_process(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data,
+			  size_t size, bool load)
 {
 	int rc = 0;
 	const struct wil_fw_record_head *hdr;
@@ -437,7 +473,7 @@ static int wil_fw_load(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data, size_t size)
 			return -EINVAL;
 		}
 		rc = wil_fw_handle_record(wil, le16_to_cpu(hdr->type),
-					  &hdr[1], hdr_sz);
+					  &hdr[1], hdr_sz, load);
 		if (rc)
 			return rc;
 	}
@@ -456,13 +492,16 @@ static int wil_fw_load(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const void *data, size_t size)
 }
 
 /**
- * wil_request_firmware - Request firmware and load to device
+ * wil_request_firmware - Request firmware
  *
- * Request firmware image from the file and load it to device
+ * Request firmware image from the file
+ * If load is true, load firmware to device, otherwise
+ * only parse and extract capabilities
  *
  * Return error code
  */
-int wil_request_firmware(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const char *name)
+int wil_request_firmware(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const char *name,
+			 bool load)
 {
 	int rc, rc1;
 	const struct firmware *fw;
@@ -482,7 +521,7 @@ int wil_request_firmware(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const char *name)
 			rc = rc1;
 			goto out;
 		}
-		rc = wil_fw_load(wil, d, rc1);
+		rc = wil_fw_process(wil, d, rc1, load);
 		if (rc < 0)
 			goto out;
 	}
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/main.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/main.c
index 7b7619c1f9f3..7198c86e09f2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/main.c
@@ -894,10 +894,10 @@ int wil_reset(struct wil6210_priv *wil, bool load_fw)
 
 		wil_halt_cpu(wil);
 		/* Loading f/w from the file */
-		rc = wil_request_firmware(wil, WIL_FW_NAME);
+		rc = wil_request_firmware(wil, WIL_FW_NAME, true);
 		if (rc)
 			return rc;
-		rc = wil_request_firmware(wil, WIL_FW2_NAME);
+		rc = wil_request_firmware(wil, WIL_FW2_NAME, true);
 		if (rc)
 			return rc;
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/pcie_bus.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/pcie_bus.c
index 5b7a9d2f0c29..44746ca0d2e6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/pcie_bus.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/pcie_bus.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ void wil_set_capabilities(struct wil6210_priv *wil)
 	u32 rev_id = wil_r(wil, RGF_USER_JTAG_DEV_ID);
 
 	bitmap_zero(wil->hw_capabilities, hw_capability_last);
+	bitmap_zero(wil->fw_capabilities, WMI_FW_CAPABILITY_MAX);
 
 	switch (rev_id) {
 	case JTAG_DEV_ID_SPARROW_B0:
@@ -52,6 +53,9 @@ void wil_set_capabilities(struct wil6210_priv *wil)
 	}
 
 	wil_info(wil, "Board hardware is %s\n", wil->hw_name);
+
+	/* extract FW capabilities from file without loading the FW */
+	wil_request_firmware(wil, WIL_FW_NAME, false);
 }
 
 void wil_disable_irq(struct wil6210_priv *wil)
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/wil6210.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/wil6210.h
index 1eb7fe772273..979536ce4591 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/wil6210.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/wil6210/wil6210.h
@@ -580,6 +580,7 @@ struct wil6210_priv {
 	u32 hw_version;
 	const char *hw_name;
 	DECLARE_BITMAP(hw_capabilities, hw_capability_last);
+	DECLARE_BITMAP(fw_capabilities, WMI_FW_CAPABILITY_MAX);
 	u8 n_mids; /* number of additional MIDs as reported by FW */
 	u32 recovery_count; /* num of FW recovery attempts in a short time */
 	u32 recovery_state; /* FW recovery state machine */
@@ -895,7 +896,8 @@ void wil6210_unmask_irq_rx(struct wil6210_priv *wil);
 int wil_iftype_nl2wmi(enum nl80211_iftype type);
 
 int wil_ioctl(struct wil6210_priv *wil, void __user *data, int cmd);
-int wil_request_firmware(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const char *name);
+int wil_request_firmware(struct wil6210_priv *wil, const char *name,
+			 bool load);
 
 int wil_can_suspend(struct wil6210_priv *wil, bool is_runtime);
 int wil_suspend(struct wil6210_priv *wil, bool is_runtime);