diff --git a/utils/imgfile_sdl.cpp b/utils/imgfile_sdl.cpp
index 97e190c422..a3904cb220 100644
--- a/utils/imgfile_sdl.cpp
+++ b/utils/imgfile_sdl.cpp
@@ -22,15 +22,40 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include <utils/imgfile.h>
 #include <loguru.hpp>
 
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <cstring>
 #include <fstream>
-#include <sstream>
 #include <memory>
+#include <sstream>
+
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && \
+    (defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__linux__) || defined(__unix__))
+#define DPPC_HAS_PRIVATE_MMAP 1
+#include <cerrno>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#endif
 
 extern bool is_deterministic;
 
+class ImgFileBackend {
+public:
+    virtual ~ImgFileBackend() = default;
+
+    virtual bool open(const std::string &img_path) = 0;
+    virtual void close() = 0;
+    virtual uint64_t size() const = 0;
+    virtual uint64_t read(void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) const = 0;
+    virtual uint64_t write(const void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) = 0;
+};
+
+static std::unique_ptr<ImgFileBackend> make_imgfile_backend(const std::string &img_path);
+
 class ImgFile::Impl {
 public:
-    std::unique_ptr<std::iostream> stream;
+    std::unique_ptr<ImgFileBackend> backend;
 };
 
 ImgFile::ImgFile(): impl(std::make_unique<Impl>())
@@ -42,62 +67,219 @@ ImgFile::~ImgFile() = default;
 
 bool ImgFile::open(const std::string &img_path)
 {
-    if (is_deterministic) {
-        // Avoid writes to the underlying file by reading it all in memory and
-        // only operating on that.
-        auto mem_stream = std::make_unique<std::stringstream>();
-        std::ifstream temp(img_path, std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
-        if (!temp) return false;
-        *mem_stream << temp.rdbuf();
-        impl->stream = std::move(mem_stream);
-    } else {
-        auto file_stream = std::make_unique<std::fstream>(img_path, std::ios::in | std::ios::out | std::ios::binary);
-        if (!file_stream->is_open()) return false;
-        impl->stream = std::move(file_stream);
-    }
-    return impl->stream && impl->stream->good();
+    impl->backend = make_imgfile_backend(img_path);
+    return !!impl->backend;
 }
 
 void ImgFile::close()
 {
-    if (!impl->stream) {
+    if (!impl->backend) {
         LOG_F(WARNING, "ImgFile::close before disk was opened, ignoring.");
         return;
     }
-    impl->stream.reset();
+    impl->backend->close();
+    impl->backend.reset();
 }
 
 uint64_t ImgFile::size() const
 {
-    if (!impl->stream) {
+    if (!impl->backend) {
         LOG_F(WARNING, "ImgFile::size before disk was opened, ignoring.");
         return 0;
     }
-    impl->stream->seekg(0, impl->stream->end);
-    return impl->stream->tellg();
+    return impl->backend->size();
 }
 
 uint64_t ImgFile::read(void* buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) const
 {
-    if (!impl->stream) {
+    if (!impl->backend) {
         LOG_F(WARNING, "ImgFile::read before disk was opened, ignoring.");
         return 0;
     }
-    impl->stream->seekg(offset, std::ios::beg);
-    impl->stream->read((char *)buf, length);
-    return impl->stream->gcount();
+    return impl->backend->read(buf, offset, length);
 }
 
 uint64_t ImgFile::write(const void* buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length)
 {
-    if (!impl->stream) {
+    if (!impl->backend) {
         LOG_F(WARNING, "ImgFile::write before disk was opened, ignoring.");
         return 0;
     }
-    impl->stream->seekp(offset, std::ios::beg);
-    impl->stream->write((const char *)buf, length);
-    #if defined(WIN32) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__linux)
-        impl->stream->flush();
-    #endif
-    return uint64_t(impl->stream->tellp()) - offset;
+    return impl->backend->write(buf, offset, length);
+}
+
+class FileStreamBackend : public ImgFileBackend {
+public:
+    bool open(const std::string &img_path) override {
+        stream = std::make_unique<std::fstream>(
+            img_path, std::ios::in | std::ios::out | std::ios::binary);
+        if (!stream->is_open())
+            return false;
+
+        stream->seekg(0, std::ios::end);
+        file_size = stream->tellg();
+        stream->clear();
+        return stream->good();
+    }
+
+    void close() override {
+        stream.reset();
+    }
+
+    uint64_t size() const override {
+        return file_size;
+    }
+
+    uint64_t read(void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) const override {
+        stream->clear();
+        stream->seekg(offset, std::ios::beg);
+        stream->read(static_cast<char *>(buf), length);
+        return stream->gcount();
+    }
+
+    uint64_t write(const void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) override {
+        stream->clear();
+        stream->seekp(offset, std::ios::beg);
+        stream->write(static_cast<const char *>(buf), length);
+#if defined(WIN32) || defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__linux)
+        stream->flush();
+#endif
+        if (!stream->good())
+            return 0;
+
+        file_size = std::max(file_size, offset + length);
+        return length;
+    }
+
+private:
+    mutable std::unique_ptr<std::fstream> stream;
+    uint64_t file_size = 0;
+};
+
+class MemoryStreamBackend : public ImgFileBackend {
+public:
+    bool open(const std::string &img_path) override {
+        std::ifstream file(img_path, std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
+        if (!file)
+            return false;
+
+        stream = std::make_unique<std::stringstream>();
+        *stream << file.rdbuf();
+        stream->seekg(0, std::ios::end);
+        file_size = stream->tellg();
+        stream->clear();
+        return stream->good();
+    }
+
+    void close() override {
+        stream.reset();
+    }
+
+    uint64_t size() const override {
+        return file_size;
+    }
+
+    uint64_t read(void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) const override {
+        stream->clear();
+        stream->seekg(offset, std::ios::beg);
+        stream->read(static_cast<char *>(buf), length);
+        return stream->gcount();
+    }
+
+    uint64_t write(const void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) override {
+        stream->clear();
+        stream->seekp(offset, std::ios::beg);
+        stream->write(static_cast<const char *>(buf), length);
+        return stream->good() ? length : 0;
+    }
+
+private:
+    mutable std::unique_ptr<std::stringstream> stream;
+    uint64_t file_size = 0;
+};
+
+#if DPPC_HAS_PRIVATE_MMAP
+class PrivateMmapBackend : public ImgFileBackend {
+public:
+    ~PrivateMmapBackend() override {
+        close();
+    }
+
+    bool open(const std::string &img_path) override {
+        fd = ::open(img_path.c_str(), O_RDONLY);
+        if (fd < 0)
+            return false;
+
+        struct stat st {};
+        if (::fstat(fd, &st) < 0 || st.st_size <= 0) {
+            close();
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        file_size = st.st_size;
+
+        void *addr = ::mmap(nullptr, file_size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0);
+        if (addr == MAP_FAILED) {
+            LOG_F(WARNING, "Private mmap failed: %s", std::strerror(errno));
+            mapping = nullptr;
+            close();
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        mapping = static_cast<uint8_t *>(addr);
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    void close() override {
+        if (mapping) {
+            ::munmap(mapping, file_size);
+            mapping = nullptr;
+        }
+        if (fd >= 0) {
+            ::close(fd);
+            fd = -1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    uint64_t size() const override {
+        return file_size;
+    }
+
+    uint64_t read(void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) const override {
+        std::memcpy(buf, mapping + offset, length);
+        return length;
+    }
+
+    uint64_t write(const void *buf, uint64_t offset, uint64_t length) override {
+        std::memcpy(mapping + offset, buf, length);
+        return length;
+    }
+
+private:
+    int fd = -1;
+    uint8_t *mapping = nullptr;
+    uint64_t file_size = 0;
+};
+#endif
+
+static std::unique_ptr<ImgFileBackend> make_imgfile_backend(const std::string &img_path) {
+    std::unique_ptr<ImgFileBackend> backend;
+    if (is_deterministic) {
+#if DPPC_HAS_PRIVATE_MMAP
+        backend = std::make_unique<PrivateMmapBackend>();
+        if (backend->open(img_path))
+            return backend;
+        // Intentional fallthrough to MemoryStreamBackend if mmap fails.
+#else
+        backend = std::make_unique<MemoryStreamBackend>();
+#endif
+    } else {
+        backend = std::make_unique<FileStreamBackend>();
+    }
+
+    if (!backend->open(img_path)) {
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+
+    return backend;
 }