diff --git a/src/eccodes.cc b/src/eccodes.cc
index a7984b396..70264eb10 100644
--- a/src/eccodes.cc
+++ b/src/eccodes.cc
@@ -337,6 +337,10 @@ int codes_get_double(const grib_handle* h, const char* key, double* value)
 {
     return grib_get_double(h, key, value);
 }
+int codes_get_float(const grib_handle* h, const char* key, float* value)
+{
+    return grib_get_float(h, key, value);
+}
 
 int codes_get_double_element(const grib_handle* h, const char* key, int i, double* value)
 {
diff --git a/src/eccodes.h b/src/eccodes.h
index 422c41539..c1b314671 100644
--- a/src/eccodes.h
+++ b/src/eccodes.h
@@ -775,6 +775,7 @@ int codes_get_long(const codes_handle* h, const char* key, long* value);
  * @return            0 if OK, integer value on error
  */
 int codes_get_double(const codes_handle* h, const char* key, double* value);
+int codes_get_float(const codes_handle* h, const char* key, float* value);
 
 /**
  *  Get as double the i-th element of the "key" array
diff --git a/src/grib_api.h b/src/grib_api.h
index 718a1bb57..efc21dd79 100644
--- a/src/grib_api.h
+++ b/src/grib_api.h
@@ -783,6 +783,7 @@ int grib_get_long(const grib_handle* h, const char* key, long* value);
  * @return            0 if OK, integer value on error
  */
 int grib_get_double(const grib_handle* h, const char* key, double* value);
+int grib_get_float(const grib_handle* h, const char* key, float* value);
 
 /**
  *  Get as double the i-th element of the "key" array
diff --git a/src/grib_value.cc b/src/grib_value.cc
index facb6e8a4..aeb07fcd6 100644
--- a/src/grib_value.cc
+++ b/src/grib_value.cc
@@ -1055,6 +1055,29 @@ int grib_get_double(const grib_handle* h, const char* name, double* val)
     return ret;
 }
 
+int grib_get_float(const grib_handle* h, const char* name, float* val)
+{
+    size_t length           = 1;
+    grib_accessor* a        = NULL;
+    grib_accessors_list* al = NULL;
+    int ret                 = 0;
+
+    if (name[0] == '/') {
+        al = grib_find_accessors_list(h, name);
+        if (!al)
+            return GRIB_NOT_FOUND;
+        ret = grib_unpack_float(al->accessor, val, &length);
+        grib_context_free(h->context, al);
+    }
+    else {
+        a = grib_find_accessor(h, name);
+        if (!a)
+            return GRIB_NOT_FOUND;
+        ret = grib_unpack_float(a, val, &length);
+    }
+    return ret;
+}
+
 int grib_get_double_element_internal(grib_handle* h, const char* name, int i, double* val)
 {
     int ret = grib_get_double_element(h, name, i, val);