diff --git a/python/src/main.cpp b/python/src/main.cpp
index a7ed0528c6a..e5b1264264c 100644
--- a/python/src/main.cpp
+++ b/python/src/main.cpp
@@ -34,6 +34,20 @@ using namespace ncnn;
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
 
+class DataReaderFromMemoryCopy : public DataReaderFromMemory
+{
+public:
+    explicit DataReaderFromMemoryCopy(const unsigned char*& mem)
+        : DataReaderFromMemory(mem)
+    {
+    }
+
+    virtual size_t reference(size_t size, const void** buf) const
+    {
+        return 0;
+    }
+};
+
 struct LayerFactory
 {
     std::string name;
@@ -956,6 +970,13 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(ncnn, m)
 #endif // NCNN_STRING
     .def("load_param_bin", (int (Net::*)(const char*)) & Net::load_param_bin, py::arg("protopath"))
     .def("load_model", (int (Net::*)(const char*)) & Net::load_model, py::arg("modelpath"))
+    .def(
+    "load_model_mem", [](Net& net, const char* mem) {
+        const unsigned char* _mem = (const unsigned char*)mem;
+        DataReaderFromMemoryCopy dr(_mem);
+        net.load_model(dr);
+    },
+    py::arg("mem"))
 #endif // NCNN_STDIO
 
     .def("clear", &Net::clear)
diff --git a/python/tests/test_net.py b/python/tests/test_net.py
index 03271aff462..362cc4791fb 100644
--- a/python/tests/test_net.py
+++ b/python/tests/test_net.py
@@ -42,6 +42,32 @@ def test_net():
         assert len(net.blobs()) == 0 and len(net.layers()) == 0
 
 
+def test_net_mem():
+    modelbin = bytearray(303940)
+    modelbin[0:4] = 71,107,48,1
+    modelbin[180:184] = 71,107,48,1
+
+    with ncnn.Net() as net:
+        ret = net.load_param("tests/test.param")
+        net.load_model_mem(bytes(modelbin))
+        assert ret == 0 and len(net.blobs()) == 3 and len(net.layers()) == 3
+
+        input_names = net.input_names()
+        output_names = net.output_names()
+        assert len(input_names) > 0 and len(output_names) > 0
+
+        in_mat = ncnn.Mat((227, 227, 3))
+
+        with net.create_extractor() as ex:
+            ex.input("data", in_mat)
+            ret, out_mat = ex.extract("output")
+
+        assert ret == 0 and out_mat.dims == 1 and out_mat.w == 1
+
+        net.clear()
+        assert len(net.blobs()) == 0 and len(net.layers()) == 0
+
+
 def test_net_vulkan():
     if not hasattr(ncnn, "get_gpu_count"):
         return