diff --git a/lib/galaxy/dependencies/pinned-requirements.txt b/lib/galaxy/dependencies/pinned-requirements.txt
index 91752afea326..306980686438 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/dependencies/pinned-requirements.txt
+++ b/lib/galaxy/dependencies/pinned-requirements.txt
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ h5py==3.11.0 ; python_version >= "3.8" and python_version < "3.9"
 h5py==3.12.1 ; python_version >= "3.9" and python_version < "3.13"
 humanfriendly==10.0 ; python_version >= "3.8" and python_version < "3.13"
 idna==3.10 ; python_version >= "3.8" and python_version < "3.13"
+puremagic=1.28 ; python_version >= "3.8" and python_version < "3.13"
 importlib-metadata==8.5.0 ; python_version >= "3.8" and python_version < "3.13"
 importlib-resources==6.4.5 ; python_version >= "3.8" and python_version < "3.9"
 isa-rwval @ git+https://github.com/nsoranzo/isa-rwval.git@3d989181058d2765a93cb0e7ca85d6955e0eb6ef ; python_version >= "3.8" and python_version < "3.13"
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/util/image_util.py b/lib/galaxy/util/image_util.py
index 3b11a50d2fda..127b18df648f 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/util/image_util.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/util/image_util.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
     Optional,
 )
 
+import puremagic
+
 try:
     from PIL import Image
 except ImportError:
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ def image_type(filename: str) -> Optional[str]:
             # exception we expect to happen frequently, so we're not logging
             pass
     if not fmt:
-        fmt = imghdr.what(filename)
+        fmt = puremagic.what(filename)
     if fmt:
         return fmt.upper()
     else: