diff --git a/pyroute2/decoder/loader.py b/pyroute2/decoder/loader.py
index b04f8ffee..6feccb501 100644
--- a/pyroute2/decoder/loader.py
+++ b/pyroute2/decoder/loader.py
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 import io
+import json
 import shlex
 import struct
 from collections import namedtuple
 from importlib import import_module
 
+from pyroute2.common import hexdump
+
 PcapMetaData = namedtuple(
     "pCAPMetaData",
     (
@@ -26,6 +29,46 @@
 )
 
 
+class Message:
+
+    def __init__(self, packet_header, ll_header, met, data):
+        self.packet_header = packet_header
+        self.ll_header = ll_header
+        self.cls = None
+        self.met = met
+        self.data = data
+        self.exception = None
+        self.msg = None
+
+    def get_message_class(self):
+        if hasattr(self.met, 'msg_map'):
+            (msg_type,) = struct.unpack('H', self.data[4:6])
+            return self.met.msg_map[msg_type]
+        return self.met
+
+    def decode(self):
+        try:
+            self.cls = self.get_message_class()
+            self.msg = self.cls(self.data)
+            self.msg.decode()
+            self.msg = self.msg.dump()
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.exception = repr(e)
+            self.msg = hexdump(self.data)
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return json.dumps(
+            {
+                "pcap header": repr(self.packet_header),
+                "link layer header": repr(self.ll_header),
+                "message class": repr(self.cls),
+                "exception": self.exception,
+                "data": self.msg,
+            },
+            indent=4,
+        )
+
+
 class Match:
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -127,9 +170,6 @@ def decode_ll_header(self, data, offset):
             *struct.unpack(">HHIIHH", data[offset : offset + 16]) + (16,)
         )
 
-    def get_message_class(self, packet_header, ll_header, data, offset):
-        return self.cls
-
     def match(self, packet_header, ll_header, data, offset):
         stack = []
         for method in self.parser.filters:
@@ -144,11 +184,13 @@ def data(self):
             ll_header = self.decode_ll_header(self.raw, self.offset)
             self.offset += ll_header.header_len
             length = packet_header.incl_len - ll_header.header_len
-            met = self.get_message_class(
-                packet_header, ll_header, self.raw, self.offset
-            )
             if self.match(packet_header, ll_header, self.raw, self.offset):
-                msg = met(self.raw[self.offset : self.offset + length])
+                msg = Message(
+                    packet_header,
+                    ll_header,
+                    self.cls,
+                    self.raw[self.offset : self.offset + length],
+                )
                 msg.decode()
                 yield msg
             self.offset += length
diff --git a/tests/decoder/decoder.py b/tests/decoder/decoder.py
index cb2685a62..1b7b7374f 100644
--- a/tests/decoder/decoder.py
+++ b/tests/decoder/decoder.py
@@ -12,30 +12,73 @@
 Module is a name within rtnl hierarchy. File should be a
 binary data in the escaped string format (see samples).
 '''
-import sys
+import argparse
+import struct
 from importlib import import_module
 from pprint import pprint
 
 from pyroute2.common import hexdump, load_dump
 
-mod = sys.argv[1]
+argument_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+argument_parser.add_argument(
+    'message_class', help='message class to use for decoding the data'
+)
+argument_parser.add_argument('data_file', help='data dump file')
+argument_parser.add_argument(
+    '-f', '--format', default='hex', help='data file format: hex, pcap'
+)
+argument_parser.add_argument(
+    '-m',
+    '--match',
+    default=0,
+    type=int,
+    help='match protocol family (only for pcap data)',
+)
+args = argument_parser.parse_args()
+
+mod = args.message_class
 mod = mod.replace('/', '.')
-f = open(sys.argv[2], 'r')
 s = mod.split('.')
 package = '.'.join(s[:-1])
 module = s[-1]
+print(package, module)
 m = import_module(package)
 met = getattr(m, module)
+data = None
 
-
-data = load_dump(f)
+if args.format == 'hex':
+    with open(args.data_file, 'r') as f:
+        data = load_dump(f)
+elif args.format == 'pcap':
+    with open(args.data_file, 'rb') as f:
+        data = f.read()
 
 offset = 0
 inbox = []
+if args.format == 'pcap':
+    # read the global header
+    pcap_header = struct.unpack('IHHiIII', data[:24])
+    offset = 24
 while offset < len(data):
-    msg = met(data[offset:])
-    msg.decode()
-    print(hexdump(msg.data))
-    pprint(msg)
-    print('.' * 40)
-    offset += msg['header']['length']
+    msg = None
+    if args.format == 'pcap':
+        packet_header = struct.unpack('IIII', data[offset : offset + 16])
+        print('pcap packet header', hexdump(data[offset : offset + 16]))
+        offset += 16
+        length = packet_header[2]
+        print('length', length)
+        print('link layer header', hexdump(data[offset : offset + 16]))
+        ll_header = struct.unpack('HHIIHH', data[offset : offset + 16])
+        print('family', ll_header[5])
+        if args.match == ll_header[5]:
+            msg = met(data[offset + 16 : offset + length])
+        offset += length
+    else:
+        msg = met(data[offset:])
+    if msg is not None:
+        msg.decode()
+        print(hexdump(msg.data))
+        pprint(msg)
+        print('.' * 40)
+    if args.format == 'hex':
+        offset += msg['header']['length']