diff --git a/src/boot/efi/efi-string.c b/src/boot/efi/efi-string.c
index 87beb85286..aee98a81e1 100644
--- a/src/boot/efi/efi-string.c
+++ b/src/boot/efi/efi-string.c
@@ -41,12 +41,13 @@ DEFINE_STRNLEN(char16_t, strnlen16);
                 (_c >= 'A' && _c <= 'Z') ? _c + ('a' - 'A') : _c; \
         })
 
-#define DEFINE_STRTOLOWER(type, name)     \
-        void name(type *s) {              \
-                if (!s)                   \
-                        return;           \
-                for (; *s; s++)           \
-                        *s = TOLOWER(*s); \
+#define DEFINE_STRTOLOWER(type, name)                \
+        type* name(type *s) {                        \
+                if (!s)                              \
+                        return NULL;                 \
+                for (type *p = s; *p; p++)           \
+                        *p = TOLOWER(*p);            \
+                return s;                            \
         }
 
 DEFINE_STRTOLOWER(char, strtolower8);
diff --git a/src/boot/efi/efi-string.h b/src/boot/efi/efi-string.h
index c7c49a07aa..9a0f89d904 100644
--- a/src/boot/efi/efi-string.h
+++ b/src/boot/efi/efi-string.h
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ static inline size_t strsize16(const char16_t *s) {
         return s ? (strlen16(s) + 1) * sizeof(*s) : 0;
 }
 
-void strtolower8(char *s);
-void strtolower16(char16_t *s);
+char* strtolower8(char *s);
+char16_t* strtolower16(char16_t *s);
 
 int strncmp8(const char *s1, const char *s2, size_t n);
 int strncmp16(const char16_t *s1, const char16_t *s2, size_t n);
diff --git a/src/boot/efi/util.c b/src/boot/efi/util.c
index aafaf06e98..ae605bf5a5 100644
--- a/src/boot/efi/util.c
+++ b/src/boot/efi/util.c
@@ -105,26 +105,19 @@ EFI_STATUS chunked_read(EFI_FILE *file, size_t *size, void *buf) {
         return EFI_SUCCESS;
 }
 
-EFI_STATUS file_read(
-                EFI_FILE *dir,
-                const char16_t *name,
+EFI_STATUS file_handle_read(
+                EFI_FILE *handle,
                 uint64_t offset,
                 size_t size,
                 char **ret,
                 size_t *ret_size) {
 
-        _cleanup_(file_closep) EFI_FILE *handle = NULL;
         _cleanup_free_ char *buf = NULL;
         EFI_STATUS err;
 
-        assert(dir);
-        assert(name);
+        assert(handle);
         assert(ret);
 
-        err = dir->Open(dir, &handle, (char16_t*) name, EFI_FILE_MODE_READ, 0ULL);
-        if (err != EFI_SUCCESS)
-                return err;
-
         if (size == 0) {
                 _cleanup_free_ EFI_FILE_INFO *info = NULL;
 
@@ -165,6 +158,28 @@ EFI_STATUS file_read(
         return err;
 }
 
+EFI_STATUS file_read(
+                EFI_FILE *dir,
+                const char16_t *name,
+                uint64_t offset,
+                size_t size,
+                char **ret,
+                size_t *ret_size) {
+
+        EFI_STATUS err;
+
+        assert(dir);
+        assert(name);
+        assert(ret);
+
+        _cleanup_(file_closep) EFI_FILE *handle = NULL;
+        err = dir->Open(dir, &handle, (char16_t*) name, EFI_FILE_MODE_READ, 0ULL);
+        if (err != EFI_SUCCESS)
+                return err;
+
+        return file_handle_read(handle, offset, size, ret, ret_size);
+}
+
 void print_at(size_t x, size_t y, size_t attr, const char16_t *str) {
         assert(str);
         ST->ConOut->SetCursorPosition(ST->ConOut, x, y);
diff --git a/src/boot/efi/util.h b/src/boot/efi/util.h
index dc16f3fb76..d8d695ea79 100644
--- a/src/boot/efi/util.h
+++ b/src/boot/efi/util.h
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ char16_t *mangle_stub_cmdline(char16_t *cmdline);
 
 EFI_STATUS chunked_read(EFI_FILE *file, size_t *size, void *buf);
 EFI_STATUS file_read(EFI_FILE *dir, const char16_t *name, uint64_t offset, size_t size, char **content, size_t *content_size);
+EFI_STATUS file_handle_read(EFI_FILE *handle, uint64_t offset, size_t size, char **ret, size_t *ret_size);
 
 static inline void file_closep(EFI_FILE **handle) {
         if (!*handle)