diff --git a/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/if_npe.c b/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/if_npe.c
index e7738c9a23fb..3b797df02891 100644
--- a/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/if_npe.c
+++ b/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/if_npe.c
@@ -550,11 +550,27 @@ npe_activate(device_t dev)
 	struct npe_softc * sc = device_get_softc(dev);
 	int unit = device_get_unit(dev);
 	int error, i;
+	uint32_t imageid;
 
-	/* load NPE firmware and start it running */
-	error = ixpnpe_init(sc->sc_npe, "npe_fw", npeconfig[unit].imageid);
-	if (error != 0)
-		return error;
+	/*
+	 * Load NPE firmware and start it running.  We assume
+	 * that minor version bumps remain compatible so probe
+	 * the firmware image starting with the expected version
+	 * and then bump the minor version up to the max.
+	 */
+	imageid = npeconfig[unit].imageid;
+	for (;;) {
+		error = ixpnpe_init(sc->sc_npe, "npe_fw", imageid);
+		if (error == 0)
+			break;
+		/* ESRCH is returned when the requested image is not present */
+		if (error != ESRCH)
+			return error;
+		/* bump the minor version up to the max possible */
+		if (NPEIMAGE_MINOR(imageid) == 0xff)
+			return error;
+		imageid++;
+	}
 
 	if (bus_space_map(sc->sc_iot, npeconfig[unit].regbase,
 	    npeconfig[unit].regsize, 0, &sc->sc_ioh)) {
diff --git a/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npe.c b/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npe.c
index 2d5680d29678..a35a4ad2bcbf 100644
--- a/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npe.c
+++ b/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npe.c
@@ -407,14 +407,14 @@ npe_findimage(struct ixpnpe_softc *sc,
         }
         /* 2 consecutive NPE_IMAGE_MARKER's indicates end of library */
         if (image->id == NPE_IMAGE_MARKER) {
-	    device_printf(sc->sc_dev,
+	    DPRINTF(sc->sc_dev,
 		"imageId 0x%08x not found in image library header\n", imageId);
             /* reached end of library, image not found */
-            return EIO;
+            return ESRCH;
         }
         offset += image->size;
     }
-    return EIO;
+    return ESRCH;
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npevar.h b/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npevar.h
index c30ff5f55117..6d365fcb1001 100644
--- a/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npevar.h
+++ b/sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/ixp425_npevar.h
@@ -32,7 +32,17 @@
  *
  * Firmware Id's for current firmware image.  These are typed by
  * NPE ID and the feature set.  Not all features are available
- * on all NPE's.
+ * on all NPE's.  The Image ID has the following structure:
+ *
+ * Field		[Bit Location]
+ * -----------------------------------
+ * Device ID		[28..31]
+ * NPE ID		[24..27]
+ * NPE Functionality ID	[16..23]
+ * Major Release Number	[8..15]
+ * Minor Release Number	[0..7]
+ *
+ * The following "feature sets" are known to exist:
  *
  * HSS-0: supports 32 channelized and 4 packetized.
  * HSS-0 + ATM + SPHY:
@@ -56,6 +66,15 @@
  * ETH+VLAN+HDR: Ethernet Rx/Tx which includes:
  *    SPANNING_TREE, FIREWALL, VLAN_QOS, HEADER_CONVERSION
  */
+#define NPEIMAGE_DEVID(id)	(((id) >> 28) & 0xf)
+#define NPEIMAGE_NPEID(id)	(((id) >> 24) & 0xf)
+#define NPEIMAGE_FUNCID(id) 	(((id) >> 16) & 0xff)
+#define NPEIMAGE_MAJOR(id)	(((id) >> 8)  & 0xff)
+#define NPEIMAGE_MINOR(id)	(((id) >> 0)  & 0xff)
+#define	NPEIMAGE_MAKEID(dev, npe, func, maj, min) \
+	((((dev) & 0xf) << 28) | (((npe) & 0xf) << 24) | \
+	(((func) & 0xff) << 16) (((maj) & 0xff) << 8) | (((min) & 0xff) << 0))
+
 /* XXX not right, revise */
 /* NPE A Firmware Image Id's */
 #define	NPEFW_A_HSS0		0x00010000 /* HSS-0: 32 chan+4 packet */