diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a74f2a8b..31584346 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -20,6 +20,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "cc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "android-tzdata"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e999941b234f3131b00bc13c22d06e8c5ff726d1b6318ac7eb276997bbb4fef0"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "android_system_properties"
+version = "0.1.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "819e7219dbd41043ac279b19830f2efc897156490d7fd6ea916720117ee66311"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "anes"
 version = "0.1.6"
@@ -129,12 +144,33 @@ version = "3.17.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "1628fb46dfa0b37568d12e5edd512553eccf6a22a78e8bde00bb4aed84d5bdbf"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bytemuck"
+version = "1.24.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1fbdf580320f38b612e485521afda1ee26d10cc9884efaaa750d383e13e3c5f4"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "bytes"
+version = "1.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b35204fbdc0b3f4446b89fc1ac2cf84a8a68971995d0bf2e925ec7cd960f9cb3"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cast"
 version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "37b2a672a2cb129a2e41c10b1224bb368f9f37a2b16b612598138befd7b37eb5"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cbitset"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "29b6ad25ae296159fb0da12b970b2fe179b234584d7cd294c891e2bbb284466b"
+dependencies = [
+ "num-traits",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cc"
 version = "1.2.24"
@@ -159,6 +195,20 @@ version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "baf1de4339761588bc0619e3cbc0120ee582ebb74b53b4efbf79117bd2da40fd"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "chrono"
+version = "0.4.31"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7f2c685bad3eb3d45a01354cedb7d5faa66194d1d58ba6e267a8de788f79db38"
+dependencies = [
+ "android-tzdata",
+ "iana-time-zone",
+ "js-sys",
+ "num-traits",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+ "windows-targets 0.48.5",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ciborium"
 version = "0.2.2"
@@ -252,6 +302,12 @@ version = "1.0.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b05b61dc5112cbb17e4b6cd61790d9845d13888356391624cbe7e41efeac1e75"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "core-foundation-sys"
+version = "0.8.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "773648b94d0e5d620f64f280777445740e61fe701025087ec8b57f45c791888b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "criterion"
 version = "0.8.1"
@@ -343,12 +399,12 @@ checksum = "877a4ace8713b0bcf2a4e7eec82529c029f1d0619886d18145fea96c3ffe5c0f"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "errno"
-version = "0.3.12"
+version = "0.3.14"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "cea14ef9355e3beab063703aa9dab15afd25f0667c341310c1e5274bb1d0da18"
+checksum = "39cab71617ae0d63f51a36d69f866391735b51691dbda63cf6f96d042b63efeb"
 dependencies = [
  "libc",
- "windows-sys 0.59.0",
+ "windows-sys 0.61.2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -388,6 +444,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "bindgen",
  "cmake",
  "pkg-config",
+ "rsfitsio",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -433,6 +490,16 @@ version = "0.15.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "84b26c544d002229e640969970a2e74021aadf6e2f96372b9c58eff97de08eb3"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hcompress"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d1b4a475971a05543118b8bcf8636f05240e9e57924ad2af462cd1628f77e37c"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytemuck",
+ "bytes",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "heck"
 version = "0.5.0"
@@ -445,6 +512,29 @@ version = "0.3.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d231dfb89cfffdbc30e7fc41579ed6066ad03abda9e567ccafae602b97ec5024"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "iana-time-zone"
+version = "0.1.61"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "235e081f3925a06703c2d0117ea8b91f042756fd6e7a6e5d901e8ca1a996b220"
+dependencies = [
+ "android_system_properties",
+ "core-foundation-sys",
+ "iana-time-zone-haiku",
+ "js-sys",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+ "windows-core",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "iana-time-zone-haiku"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f31827a206f56af32e590ba56d5d2d085f558508192593743f16b2306495269f"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "icu_collections"
 version = "2.0.0"
@@ -619,11 +709,20 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasm-bindgen",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libbz2-rs-sys"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2c4a545a15244c7d945065b5d392b2d2d7f21526fba56ce51467b06ed445e8f7"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "libc"
-version = "0.2.172"
+version = "0.2.178"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d750af042f7ef4f724306de029d18836c26c1765a54a6a3f094cbd23a7267ffa"
+checksum = "37c93d8daa9d8a012fd8ab92f088405fb202ea0b6ab73ee2482ae66af4f42091"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libloading"
@@ -635,6 +734,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-targets 0.52.6",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libz-rs-sys"
+version = "0.5.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c10501e7805cee23da17c7790e59df2870c0d4043ec6d03f67d31e2b53e77415"
+dependencies = [
+ "zlib-rs",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "linux-raw-sys"
 version = "0.3.8"
@@ -671,9 +779,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "memchr"
-version = "2.7.4"
+version = "2.7.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "78ca9ab1a0babb1e7d5695e3530886289c18cf2f87ec19a575a0abdce112e3a3"
+checksum = "f52b00d39961fc5b2736ea853c9cc86238e165017a493d1d5c8eac6bdc4cc273"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "minimal-lexical"
@@ -776,6 +884,12 @@ version = "0.3.32"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7edddbd0b52d732b21ad9a5fab5c704c14cd949e5e9a1ec5929a24fded1b904c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pliocomp"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8e1970c26a537573d5b864287a04df7f6e3aa0770577ebfa1a6a57b9f92eb35b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "plotters"
 version = "0.3.7"
@@ -858,6 +972,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicase",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pwd"
+version = "1.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "72c71c0c79b9701efe4e1e4b563b2016dd4ee789eb99badcb09d61ac4b92e4a2"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "thiserror",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "quote"
 version = "1.0.40"
@@ -928,6 +1052,34 @@ version = "0.8.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2b15c43186be67a4fd63bee50d0303afffcef381492ebe2c5d87f324e1b8815c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ricecomp"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "745d940d19d18efb7f7e47987adb6860a59fe595d868a469691bc2b181dc4883"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rsfitsio"
+version = "0.462.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7fdbe688f6faa35781d16f1e5bd8a3cbf2af81f7a7129f3291ce073ef1f9188c"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytemuck",
+ "cbitset",
+ "chrono",
+ "errno",
+ "fastrand",
+ "hcompress",
+ "libbz2-rs-sys",
+ "libc",
+ "libz-rs-sys",
+ "memchr",
+ "pliocomp",
+ "pwd",
+ "ricecomp",
+ "tempfile",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc-hash"
 version = "2.1.1"
@@ -1099,6 +1251,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.59.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror"
+version = "1.0.65"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5d11abd9594d9b38965ef50805c5e469ca9cc6f197f883f717e0269a3057b3d5"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror-impl",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror-impl"
+version = "1.0.65"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ae71770322cbd277e69d762a16c444af02aa0575ac0d174f0b9562d3b37f8602"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.101",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tinystr"
 version = "0.8.1"
@@ -1312,7 +1484,7 @@ version = "0.1.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "cf221c93e13a30d793f7645a0e7762c55d169dbb0a49671918a2319d289b10bb"
 dependencies = [
- "windows-sys 0.59.0",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1321,6 +1493,15 @@ version = "0.4.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "712e227841d057c1ee1cd2fb22fa7e5a5461ae8e48fa2ca79ec42cfc1931183f"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-core"
+version = "0.52.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "33ab640c8d7e35bf8ba19b884ba838ceb4fba93a4e8c65a9059d08afcfc683d9"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-targets 0.52.6",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows-link"
 version = "0.2.1"
@@ -1584,3 +1765,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "quote",
  "syn 2.0.101",
 ]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zlib-rs"
+version = "0.5.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "40990edd51aae2c2b6907af74ffb635029d5788228222c4bb811e9351c0caad3"
diff --git a/fitsio-sys/Cargo.toml b/fitsio-sys/Cargo.toml
index 63168a2b..ec2b3b9c 100644
--- a/fitsio-sys/Cargo.toml
+++ b/fitsio-sys/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ categories = ["external-ffi-bindings", "science"]
 links = "cfitsio"
 
 [dependencies]
+rsfitsio = { version = "0.462.10", optional = true }
 
 [features]
 # Build, statically link, and use the vendored copy
@@ -26,6 +27,9 @@ src-cmake = ["cmake"]
 # rather than use the manually-written bindings.
 # Untested; use at one's peril.
 with-bindgen = ["bindgen"]
+# Use the pure-Rust `rsfitsio` crate as the provider of the CFITSIO-compatible C API.
+# This backend avoids linking to a system-provided or vendored native `cfitsio` library.
+backend-rsfitsio = ["dep:rsfitsio"]
 
 [build-dependencies]
 pkg-config = "0.3.16"
diff --git a/fitsio-sys/build.rs b/fitsio-sys/build.rs
index 06dcd857..96058aa5 100644
--- a/fitsio-sys/build.rs
+++ b/fitsio-sys/build.rs
@@ -29,8 +29,53 @@ fn generate_bindings<'p>(include_paths: impl Iterator<Item = &'p PathBuf>) {
     }
 }
 
-#[cfg(feature = "fitsio-src")]
+fn write_default_aliases() {
+    let out_dir = env::var("OUT_DIR").expect("set by cargo");
+    let out = PathBuf::from(out_dir).join("aliases.rs");
+    match std::fs::copy("default-aliases.rs", &out) {
+        Ok(_) => (),
+        Err(e) => {
+            eprintln!(
+                "There was a problem attempting to copy from 'default-aliases.rs' to {out:?}"
+            );
+            panic!("{}", e);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn ensure_feature_compatibility() {
+    if cfg!(feature = "backend-rsfitsio") {
+        if cfg!(feature = "fitsio-src") {
+            panic!("features `backend-rsfitsio` and `fitsio-src` are mutually exclusive");
+        }
+        if cfg!(feature = "src-cmake") {
+            panic!(
+                "feature `src-cmake` requires `fitsio-src` and is not compatible with `backend-rsfitsio`"
+            );
+        }
+        if cfg!(feature = "with-bindgen") {
+            panic!(
+                "feature `with-bindgen` is not supported with `backend-rsfitsio` (no native headers). Use the built-in bindings instead."
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn main() {
+    ensure_feature_compatibility();
+
+    // Rust backend: the `rsfitsio` crate provides the CFITSIO-compatible C symbols.
+    // We must NOT attempt to probe/build/link a native `cfitsio` library here.
+    if cfg!(feature = "backend-rsfitsio") {
+        write_default_aliases();
+        return;
+    }
+
+    main_cfitsio();
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "fitsio-src")]
+fn main_cfitsio() {
     #[cfg(not(feature = "src-cmake"))]
     use autotools::Config as AutoConfig;
     #[cfg(feature = "src-cmake")]
@@ -101,7 +146,7 @@ fn main() {
 }
 
 #[cfg(not(feature = "fitsio-src"))]
-fn main() {
+fn main_cfitsio() {
     // `msys2` does not report the version of cfitsio correctly, so ignore the version specifier for now.
     let package_name = if cfg!(windows) {
         let msg = "No version specifier available for pkg-config on windows, so the version of cfitsio used when compiling this program is unspecified";
@@ -172,7 +217,7 @@ fn generate_aliases_mod_file<'p>(include_paths: impl Iterator<Item = &'p PathBuf
         let mut buffer = String::new();
         file.read_to_string(&mut buffer).expect("file can be read");
 
-        #[cfg(not(feature = "bindgen"))]
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "with-bindgen"))]
         let mut buffer2 = String::new();
 
         let mut aliases = Vec::new();
@@ -189,9 +234,9 @@ fn generate_aliases_mod_file<'p>(include_paths: impl Iterator<Item = &'p PathBuf
 
         // There may be functions missing in the crate's provided bindings. Find
         // them and don't allow long names to be provided for them.
-        #[cfg(not(feature = "bindgen"))]
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "with-bindgen"))]
         let mut available_short_names = Vec::new();
-        #[cfg(not(feature = "bindgen"))]
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "with-bindgen"))]
         {
             #[cfg(target_pointer_width = "64")]
             let filename = "src/bindings_64.rs";
@@ -234,7 +279,7 @@ fn generate_aliases_mod_file<'p>(include_paths: impl Iterator<Item = &'p PathBuf
                             continue 'line;
                         }
                     }
-                    #[cfg(not(feature = "bindgen"))]
+                    #[cfg(not(feature = "with-bindgen"))]
                     if !available_short_names.contains(&fitsio_name) {
                         continue;
                     }
diff --git a/fitsio-sys/src/lib.rs b/fitsio-sys/src/lib.rs
index e025aa12..5545a5a5 100644
--- a/fitsio-sys/src/lib.rs
+++ b/fitsio-sys/src/lib.rs
@@ -50,10 +50,15 @@
 
 #![allow(improper_ctypes)]
 
+// Ensure the `rsfitsio` crate is linked in when selected as the backend.
+// It provides the CFITSIO-compatible `extern "C"` symbols that these bindings declare.
+#[cfg(feature = "backend-rsfitsio")]
+extern crate rsfitsio as _;
+
 mod aliases;
 pub use aliases::*;
 
-#[cfg(not(feature = "bindgen"))]
+#[cfg(not(feature = "with-bindgen"))]
 #[allow(non_camel_case_types, non_upper_case_globals, non_snake_case)]
 #[allow(
     clippy::unreadable_literal,
@@ -74,7 +79,7 @@ mod sys {
     include!(concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/src/bindings_32.rs"));
 }
 
-#[cfg(feature = "bindgen")]
+#[cfg(feature = "with-bindgen")]
 #[allow(
     non_upper_case_globals,
     non_camel_case_types,
diff --git a/fitsio/Cargo.toml b/fitsio/Cargo.toml
index 2b1750a3..f8b42a53 100644
--- a/fitsio/Cargo.toml
+++ b/fitsio/Cargo.toml
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ array = ["ndarray"]
 bindgen = ["fitsio-sys/with-bindgen"]
 fitsio-src = ["fitsio-sys/fitsio-src"]
 src-cmake = ["fitsio-sys/src-cmake"]
+rsfitsio = ["fitsio-sys/backend-rsfitsio"]
 clippy = []
 
 [[bench]]