diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index fadfa44..db40e6a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.8..3.22)
 
 project(minitar LANGUAGES C VERSION 1.3.0)
 
+option(MINITAR_IGNORE_UNSUPPORTED_TYPES "Skip past entries that have unsupported types instead of panicking" OFF)
+
 set(SOURCES
     src/tar.c
     src/util.c
@@ -9,6 +11,10 @@ set(SOURCES
 
 add_library(minitar STATIC ${SOURCES})
 
+if(MINITAR_IGNORE_UNSUPPORTED_TYPES)
+target_compile_definitions(minitar PRIVATE MINITAR_IGNORE_UNSUPPORTED_TYPES)
+endif()
+
 target_include_directories(minitar PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}) # for minitar.h
 
 set_target_properties(minitar PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME mtar)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 83840cd..ac8cd35 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ This enum lists all supported file types:
 
 `MTAR_DIRECTORY`: Directories
 
-Other file types supported in tar archives, such as block/character devices, FIFOs, or symlinks, are not supported and minitar will throw an error when encountering one of them.
+Other file types supported in tar archives, such as block/character devices, FIFOs, or symlinks, are not supported and minitar will throw an error when encountering one of them. This behavior can be controlled by passing `-DMINITAR_IGNORE_UNSUPPORTED_TYPES=ON` to CMake when configuring, which will make minitar silently ignore such entries instead of panicking.
 
 ### minitar_entry_metadata
 `struct minitar_entry_metadata`
diff --git a/src/util.c b/src/util.c
index 1978fc0..5437ad6 100644
--- a/src/util.c
+++ b/src/util.c
@@ -168,9 +168,13 @@ void minitar_parse_metadata_from_tar_header(const struct tar_header* hdr, struct
 
 int minitar_validate_header(const struct tar_header* hdr)
 {
+#ifdef MINITAR_IGNORE_UNSUPPORTED_TYPES
+    if (hdr->typeflag != '\0' && hdr->typeflag != '0' && hdr->typeflag != '5') return 0;
+#else
     if (hdr->typeflag != '\0' && hdr->typeflag != '0' && hdr->typeflag != '1' && hdr->typeflag != '2' &&
         hdr->typeflag != '3' && hdr->typeflag != '4' && hdr->typeflag != '5' && hdr->typeflag != '6')
         return 0;
+#endif
     return !strncmp(hdr->magic, "ustar", 5);
 }