diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index df8e237..d973eed 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,14 @@
 //! base64-encoded DER, PEM objects are delimited by header and footer lines which indicate the type
 //! of object contained in the PEM blob.
 //!
-//! The [rustls-pemfile](https://docs.rs/rustls-pemfile) crate can be used to parse PEM files.
+//! Types here can be created from:
+//!
+//! - DER using (for example) [`PrivatePkcs8KeyDer::from`].
+//! - PEM using (for example) [`PrivatePkcs8KeyDer::decode_from_pem`] via the [`DecodePem`] extension trait.
+//!
+//! `decode_from_pem` returns the first matching item from the given input.
+//! It is usual for given PEM file to contain multiple items: if you wish
+//! to examine all of these you can use the iterator-based API in the [`pem`] module.
 //!
 //! ## Creating new certificates and keys
 //!
@@ -120,6 +127,25 @@ impl<'a> PrivateKeyDer<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "alloc")]
+impl DecodePem for PrivateKeyDer<'static> {
+    fn from_pem_items(
+        iter: &mut impl Iterator<Item = Result<pem::Item, pem::Error>>,
+    ) -> Result<Self, pem::Error> {
+        for item in iter {
+            match item {
+                Ok(pem::Item::Pkcs1Key(pkcs1)) => return Ok(Self::Pkcs1(pkcs1)),
+                Ok(pem::Item::Pkcs8Key(pkcs8)) => return Ok(Self::Pkcs8(pkcs8)),
+                Ok(pem::Item::Sec1Key(sec1)) => return Ok(Self::Sec1(sec1)),
+                Ok(_) => {}
+                Err(err) => return Err(err),
+            }
+        }
+
+        Err(pem::Error::NoItemsFound)
+    }
+}
+
 impl<'a> From<PrivatePkcs1KeyDer<'a>> for PrivateKeyDer<'a> {
     fn from(key: PrivatePkcs1KeyDer<'a>) -> Self {
         Self::Pkcs1(key)
@@ -481,6 +507,30 @@ impl<'a> CertificateDer<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "alloc")]
+impl DecodePem for Vec<CertificateDer<'static>> {
+    /// This returns _all_ certificate items appearing in `pem_slice`.
+    fn from_pem_items(
+        iter: &mut impl Iterator<Item = Result<pem::Item, pem::Error>>,
+    ) -> Result<Self, pem::Error> {
+        let mut out = Self::new();
+
+        for item in iter {
+            match item {
+                Ok(pem::Item::X509Certificate(x509)) => out.push(x509),
+                Ok(_) => {}
+                Err(err) => return Err(err),
+            }
+        }
+
+        if out.is_empty() {
+            Err(pem::Error::NoItemsFound)
+        } else {
+            Ok(out)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl AsRef<[u8]> for CertificateDer<'_> {
     fn as_ref(&self) -> &[u8] {
         self.0.as_ref()
@@ -757,6 +807,53 @@ impl UnixTime {
     }
 }
 
+/// An extension trait for types we can decode from PEM.
+#[cfg(feature = "alloc")]
+pub trait DecodePem {
+    /// Underlying function to be implemented by target types.
+    ///
+    /// This is not intended for direct use, instead use `decode_from_pem`
+    /// and other provided functions in this trait.
+    fn from_pem_items(
+        iter: &mut impl Iterator<Item = Result<pem::Item, pem::Error>>,
+    ) -> Result<Self, pem::Error>
+    where
+        Self: Sized;
+
+    /// Decode this type from PEM contained a byte slice.
+    fn decode_from_pem(pem: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, pem::Error>
+    where
+        Self: Sized,
+    {
+        Self::from_pem_items(&mut pem::read_all_from_slice(pem))
+    }
+
+    /// Decode this type from PEM contained in a `str`.
+    fn decode_from_pem_str(pem: &str) -> Result<Self, pem::Error>
+    where
+        Self: Sized,
+    {
+        Self::decode_from_pem(pem.as_bytes())
+    }
+
+    /// Decode this type from PEM present in a buffered reader.
+    #[cfg(feature = "std")]
+    fn decode_from_pem_reader(rd: &mut impl std::io::BufRead) -> Result<Self, pem::IoError>
+    where
+        Self: Sized,
+    {
+        let mut items = Vec::new();
+        // iterate over items to slough off io errors
+        for item in pem::read_all(rd) {
+            match item {
+                Ok(item) => items.push(Ok(item)),
+                Err(err) => return Err(err),
+            }
+        }
+        Self::from_pem_items(&mut items.into_iter()).map_err(pem::IoError::Pem)
+    }
+}
+
 /// DER-encoded data, either owned or borrowed
 ///
 /// This wrapper type is used to represent DER-encoded data in a way that is agnostic to whether
diff --git a/src/pem.rs b/src/pem.rs
index ae05d88..2bb12cf 100644
--- a/src/pem.rs
+++ b/src/pem.rs
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ pub enum Error {
 
     /// base64 decode error
     Base64Decode(String),
+
+    /// no items found of desired type
+    NoItemsFound,
 }
 
 /// Errors that may arise from reading from a file-like stream
@@ -269,3 +272,29 @@ fn read_until_newline<R: io::BufRead + ?Sized>(r: &mut R, buf: &mut Vec<u8>) ->
 pub fn read_all(rd: &mut dyn io::BufRead) -> impl Iterator<Item = Result<Item, IoError>> + '_ {
     iter::from_fn(move || read_one(rd).transpose())
 }
+
+/// Iterate over all PEM sections by reading `pem_slice`
+pub(crate) fn read_all_from_slice(
+    pem_slice: &[u8],
+) -> impl Iterator<Item = Result<Item, Error>> + '_ {
+    struct SliceIter<'a> {
+        current: &'a [u8],
+    }
+
+    impl Iterator for SliceIter<'_> {
+        type Item = Result<Item, Error>;
+
+        fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
+            match read_one_from_slice(self.current) {
+                Ok(Some((item, rest))) => {
+                    self.current = rest;
+                    Some(Ok(item))
+                }
+                Ok(None) => None,
+                Err(err) => Some(Err(err)),
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    SliceIter { current: pem_slice }
+}