diff --git a/util/cbfstool/flashmap/fmap.c b/util/cbfstool/flashmap/fmap.c
index f143beb90f..f803d6c0da 100644
--- a/util/cbfstool/flashmap/fmap.c
+++ b/util/cbfstool/flashmap/fmap.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
 #define _XOPEN_SOURCE 700
 
+#include <ctype.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -69,6 +70,41 @@ int fmap_size(const struct fmap *fmap)
 	return sizeof(*fmap) + (fmap->nareas * sizeof(struct fmap_area));
 }
 
+/* Make a best-effort assessment if the given fmap is real */
+static int is_valid_fmap(const struct fmap *fmap)
+{
+	if (memcmp(fmap, FMAP_SIGNATURE, strlen(FMAP_SIGNATURE)) != 0)
+		return 0;
+	/* strings containing the magic tend to fail here */
+	if (fmap->ver_major != FMAP_VER_MAJOR)
+		return 0;
+	/* a basic consistency check: flash should be larger than fmap */
+	if (fmap->size <
+		sizeof(*fmap) + fmap->nareas * sizeof(struct fmap_area))
+		return 0;
+
+	/* fmap-alikes along binary data tend to fail on having a valid,
+	 * null-terminated string in the name field.*/
+	int i = 0;
+	while (i < FMAP_STRLEN) {
+		if (fmap->name[i] == 0)
+			break;
+		if (!isalnum(fmap->name[i]))
+			return 0;
+		if (i == FMAP_STRLEN - 1) {
+			/* name is specified to be null terminated. We didn't
+			 * break in the 0 test, we didn't fail on the alnum
+			 * test, so we're seeing FMAP_STRLEN alphanumerical
+			 * symbols, which is one too many.
+			 */
+			 return 0;
+		}
+		i++;
+	}
+	return 1;
+
+}
+
 /* brute force linear search */
 static long int fmap_lsearch(const uint8_t *image, size_t len)
 {
@@ -76,9 +112,7 @@ static long int fmap_lsearch(const uint8_t *image, size_t len)
 	int fmap_found = 0;
 
 	for (offset = 0; offset < len - strlen(FMAP_SIGNATURE); offset++) {
-		if (!memcmp(&image[offset],
-			    FMAP_SIGNATURE,
-			    strlen(FMAP_SIGNATURE))) {
+		if (is_valid_fmap((const struct fmap *)&image[offset])) {
 			fmap_found = 1;
 			break;
 		}
@@ -114,9 +148,8 @@ static long int fmap_bsearch(const uint8_t *image, size_t len)
 		     offset += stride) {
 			if ((offset % (stride * 2) == 0) && (offset != 0))
 					continue;
-			if (!memcmp(&image[offset],
-				    FMAP_SIGNATURE,
-				    strlen(FMAP_SIGNATURE))) {
+			if (is_valid_fmap(
+				(const struct fmap *)&image[offset])) {
 				fmap_found = 1;
 				break;
 			}