diff --git a/man/sd_hwdb_new.xml b/man/sd_hwdb_new.xml
index c071599a..0584add4 100644
--- a/man/sd_hwdb_new.xml
+++ b/man/sd_hwdb_new.xml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
   <refnamediv>
     <refname>sd_hwdb_new</refname>
+    <refname>sd_hwdb_new_from_path</refname>
     <refname>sd_hwdb_ref</refname>
     <refname>sd_hwdb_unref</refname>
 
@@ -31,6 +32,12 @@
         <paramdef>sd_hwdb **<parameter>hwdb</parameter></paramdef>
       </funcprototype>
 
+      <funcprototype>
+        <funcdef>int <function>sd_hwdb_new_from_path</function></funcdef>
+        <paramdef>const char *<parameter>path</parameter></paramdef>
+        <paramdef>sd_hwdb **<parameter>hwdb</parameter></paramdef>
+      </funcprototype>
+
       <funcprototype>
         <funcdef>sd_hwdb* <function>sd_hwdb_ref</function></funcdef>
         <paramdef>sd_hwdb *<parameter>hwdb</parameter></paramdef>
@@ -50,6 +57,9 @@
     database. Upon initialization, the file containing the binary representation of the hardware database is
     located and opened. The new object is returned in <parameter>hwdb</parameter>.</para>
 
+    <para><function>sd_hwdb_new_from_path()</function> may be used to specify the path from which the binary
+    hardware database should be opened.</para>
+
     <para>The <parameter>hwdb</parameter> object is reference counted. <function>sd_hwdb_ref()</function> and
     <function>sd_hwdb_unref()</function> may be used to get a new reference or destroy an existing reference
     to an object. The caller must dispose of the reference acquired with <function>sd_hwdb_new()</function>
@@ -65,8 +75,8 @@
   <refsect1>
     <title>Return Value</title>
 
-    <para>On success, <function>sd_hwdb_new()</function> returns a non-negative integer. On
-    failure, it returns a negative errno-style error code.</para>
+    <para>On success, <function>sd_hwdb_new()</function> and <function>sd_hwdb_new_from_path()</function>
+    return a non-negative integer. On failure, a negative errno-style error code is returned.</para>
 
     <para><function>sd_hwdb_ref()</function> always returns the argument.
     </para>
diff --git a/src/libsystemd/libsystemd.sym b/src/libsystemd/libsystemd.sym
index ccc321ec..528e86b6 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/libsystemd.sym
+++ b/src/libsystemd/libsystemd.sym
@@ -778,3 +778,8 @@ global:
         sd_device_open;
         sd_device_enumerator_add_nomatch_sysname;
 } LIBSYSTEMD_250;
+
+LIBSYSTEMD_252 {
+global:
+        sd_hwdb_new_from_path;
+} LIBSYSTEMD_251;
diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-hwdb/sd-hwdb.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-hwdb/sd-hwdb.c
index 748cf269..f73d1fc2 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-hwdb/sd-hwdb.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-hwdb/sd-hwdb.c
@@ -281,9 +281,9 @@ static int trie_search_f(sd_hwdb *hwdb, const char *search) {
         return 0;
 }
 
-_public_ int sd_hwdb_new(sd_hwdb **ret) {
+static int hwdb_new(const char *path, sd_hwdb **ret) {
         _cleanup_(sd_hwdb_unrefp) sd_hwdb *hwdb = NULL;
-        const char *hwdb_bin_path;
+        const char *hwdb_bin_path = NULL;
         const char sig[] = HWDB_SIG;
 
         assert_return(ret, -EINVAL);
@@ -294,19 +294,26 @@ _public_ int sd_hwdb_new(sd_hwdb **ret) {
 
         hwdb->n_ref = 1;
 
-        /* find hwdb.bin in hwdb_bin_paths */
-        NULSTR_FOREACH(hwdb_bin_path, hwdb_bin_paths) {
-                log_debug("Trying to open \"%s\"...", hwdb_bin_path);
-                hwdb->f = fopen(hwdb_bin_path, "re");
-                if (hwdb->f)
-                        break;
-                if (errno != ENOENT)
-                        return log_debug_errno(errno, "Failed to open %s: %m", hwdb_bin_path);
-        }
+        /* find hwdb.bin in hwdb_bin_paths, or from an explicit path if provided */
+        if (!isempty(path)) {
+                log_debug("Trying to open \"%s\"...", path);
+                hwdb->f = fopen(path, "re");
+                if (!hwdb->f)
+                        return log_debug_errno(errno, "Failed to open %s: %m", path);
+        } else {
+                NULSTR_FOREACH(hwdb_bin_path, hwdb_bin_paths) {
+                        log_debug("Trying to open \"%s\"...", hwdb_bin_path);
+                        hwdb->f = fopen(hwdb_bin_path, "re");
+                        if (hwdb->f)
+                                break;
+                        if (errno != ENOENT)
+                                return log_debug_errno(errno, "Failed to open %s: %m", hwdb_bin_path);
+                }
 
-        if (!hwdb->f)
-                return log_debug_errno(SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(ENOENT),
-                                       "hwdb.bin does not exist, please run 'systemd-hwdb update'");
+                if (!hwdb->f)
+                        return log_debug_errno(SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(ENOENT),
+                                               "hwdb.bin does not exist, please run 'systemd-hwdb update'");
+        }
 
         if (fstat(fileno(hwdb->f), &hwdb->st) < 0)
                 return log_debug_errno(errno, "Failed to stat %s: %m", hwdb_bin_path);
@@ -339,6 +346,16 @@ _public_ int sd_hwdb_new(sd_hwdb **ret) {
         return 0;
 }
 
+_public_ int sd_hwdb_new_from_path(const char *path, sd_hwdb **ret) {
+        assert_return(!isempty(path), -EINVAL);
+
+        return hwdb_new(path, ret);
+}
+
+_public_ int sd_hwdb_new(sd_hwdb **ret) {
+        return hwdb_new(NULL, ret);
+}
+
 static sd_hwdb *hwdb_free(sd_hwdb *hwdb) {
         assert(hwdb);
 
diff --git a/src/systemd/sd-hwdb.h b/src/systemd/sd-hwdb.h
index 9380759e..9eee1c19 100644
--- a/src/systemd/sd-hwdb.h
+++ b/src/systemd/sd-hwdb.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ sd_hwdb *sd_hwdb_ref(sd_hwdb *hwdb);
 sd_hwdb *sd_hwdb_unref(sd_hwdb *hwdb);
 
 int sd_hwdb_new(sd_hwdb **ret);
+int sd_hwdb_new_from_path(const char *path, sd_hwdb **ret);
 
 int sd_hwdb_get(sd_hwdb *hwdb, const char *modalias, const char *key, const char **value);
 
diff --git a/src/test/test-sd-hwdb.c b/src/test/test-sd-hwdb.c
index 5e139856..f18634cc 100644
--- a/src/test/test-sd-hwdb.c
+++ b/src/test/test-sd-hwdb.c
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 #include "alloc-util.h"
 #include "errno-util.h"
 #include "errno.h"
+#include "hwdb-internal.h"
+#include "nulstr-util.h"
 #include "tests.h"
 
 TEST(failed_enumerate) {
@@ -52,6 +54,24 @@ TEST(basic_enumerate) {
         assert_se(len1 == len2);
 }
 
+TEST(sd_hwdb_new_from_path) {
+        _cleanup_(sd_hwdb_unrefp) sd_hwdb *hwdb = NULL;
+        const char *hwdb_bin_path = NULL;
+        int r;
+
+        assert_se(sd_hwdb_new_from_path(NULL, &hwdb) == -EINVAL);
+        assert_se(sd_hwdb_new_from_path("", &hwdb) == -EINVAL);
+        assert_se(sd_hwdb_new_from_path("/path/that/should/not/exist", &hwdb) < 0);
+
+        NULSTR_FOREACH(hwdb_bin_path, hwdb_bin_paths) {
+                r = sd_hwdb_new_from_path(hwdb_bin_path, &hwdb);
+                if (r >= 0)
+                        break;
+        }
+
+        assert_se(r >= 0);
+}
+
 static int intro(void) {
         _cleanup_(sd_hwdb_unrefp) sd_hwdb *hwdb = NULL;
         int r;