diff --git a/clip/clip.py b/clip/clip.py
index 8f37ba8..dfb3d1e 100644
--- a/clip/clip.py
+++ b/clip/clip.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from tqdm import tqdm
 from .model import build_model
 from .simple_tokenizer import SimpleTokenizer as _Tokenizer
 
-__all__ = ["available_models", "load", "tokenize"]
+__all__ = ["available_models", "load", "load_from_file", "tokenize"]
 _tokenizer = _Tokenizer()
 
 _MODELS = {
@@ -58,10 +58,22 @@ def available_models():
 
 
 def load(name: str, device: Union[str, torch.device] = "cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu", jit=True):
+    """ Load by model name
+        Kept function name 'load' for backwards compatability
+    """
     if name not in _MODELS:
         raise RuntimeError(f"Model {name} not found; available models = {available_models()}")
 
     model_path = _download(_MODELS[name])
+
+    return load_from_file(model_path, device)
+
+
+def load_from_file(model_path: str, device: Union[str, torch.device] = "cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu", jit=True):
+    """ Load model file
+        Original 'load' function
+    """
+
     model = torch.jit.load(model_path, map_location=device if jit else "cpu").eval()
     n_px = model.input_resolution.item()