diff --git a/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.cc b/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.cc
index 497510786f..3e756d5da7 100644
--- a/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.cc
+++ b/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.cc
@@ -77,21 +77,34 @@ bool Analyzer::ForwardPacket(size_t len, const uint8_t* data, Packet* packet,
                              uint32_t identifier) const
 	{
 	auto inner_analyzer = Lookup(identifier);
+	if ( ! inner_analyzer )
+		{
+		for ( const auto& child : analyzers_to_detect )
+			{
+			if ( child->DetectProtocol(len, data, packet) )
+				{
+				DBG_LOG(DBG_PACKET_ANALYSIS,
+				        "Protocol detection in %s succeeded, next layer analyzer is %s",
+				        GetAnalyzerName(), child->GetAnalyzerName());
+				inner_analyzer = child;
+				break;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
 	if ( ! inner_analyzer )
 		inner_analyzer = default_analyzer;
 
-	if ( inner_analyzer == nullptr )
+	if ( ! inner_analyzer )
 		{
+		DBG_LOG(DBG_PACKET_ANALYSIS,
+		        "Analysis in %s failed, could not find analyzer for identifier %#x.",
+		        GetAnalyzerName(), identifier);
+
 		if ( report_unknown_protocols )
-			{
-			DBG_LOG(DBG_PACKET_ANALYSIS,
-			        "Analysis in %s failed, could not find analyzer for identifier %#x.",
-			        GetAnalyzerName(), identifier);
 			packet_mgr->ReportUnknownProtocol(GetAnalyzerName(), identifier, data, len);
-			return false;
-			}
-		else
-			return true;
+
+		return false;
 		}
 
 	DBG_LOG(DBG_PACKET_ANALYSIS, "Analysis in %s succeeded, next layer identifier is %#x.",
@@ -101,16 +114,35 @@ bool Analyzer::ForwardPacket(size_t len, const uint8_t* data, Packet* packet,
 
 bool Analyzer::ForwardPacket(size_t len, const uint8_t* data, Packet* packet) const
 	{
-	if ( default_analyzer )
-		return default_analyzer->AnalyzePacket(len, data, packet);
+	AnalyzerPtr inner_analyzer = nullptr;
 
-	DBG_LOG(DBG_PACKET_ANALYSIS, "Analysis in %s stopped, no default analyzer available.",
-	        GetAnalyzerName());
+	for ( const auto& child : analyzers_to_detect )
+		{
+		if ( child->DetectProtocol(len, data, packet) )
+			{
+			DBG_LOG(DBG_PACKET_ANALYSIS,
+			        "Protocol detection in %s succeeded, next layer analyzer is %s",
+			        GetAnalyzerName(), child->GetAnalyzerName());
+			inner_analyzer = child;
+			break;
+			}
+		}
 
-	if ( report_unknown_protocols )
-		Weird("no_suitable_analyzer_found", packet);
+	if ( ! inner_analyzer )
+		inner_analyzer = default_analyzer;
 
-	return true;
+	if ( ! inner_analyzer )
+		{
+		DBG_LOG(DBG_PACKET_ANALYSIS, "Analysis in %s stopped, no default analyzer available.",
+		        GetAnalyzerName());
+
+		if ( report_unknown_protocols )
+			Weird("no_suitable_analyzer_found", packet);
+
+		return false;
+		}
+
+	return inner_analyzer->AnalyzePacket(len, data, packet);
 	}
 
 void Analyzer::DumpDebug() const
diff --git a/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.h b/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.h
index 59f37dc291..3e61bd4428 100644
--- a/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.h
+++ b/src/packet_analysis/Analyzer.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // See the file "COPYING" in the main distribution directory for copyright.
 #pragma once
 
+#include <set>
+
 #include "zeek/Tag.h"
 #include "zeek/iosource/Packet.h"
 #include "zeek/packet_analysis/Manager.h"
@@ -98,6 +100,32 @@ public:
 	 */
 	void RegisterProtocol(uint32_t identifier, AnalyzerPtr child);
 
+	/**
+	 * Registers an analyzer to use for protocol detection if identifier
+	 * matching fails. This will also be preferred over the default analyzer
+	 * if one exists.
+	 *
+	 * @param child The analyzer that will be called for protocol detection.
+	 */
+	void RegisterProtocolDetection(AnalyzerPtr child) { analyzers_to_detect.insert(child); }
+
+	/**
+	 * Detects whether the protocol for an analyzer can be found in the packet
+	 * data. Packet analyzers can overload this method to provide any sort of
+	 * pattern-matching or byte-value detection against the packet data to
+	 * determine whether the packet contains the analyzer's protocol. The
+	 * analyzer must also register for the detection in script-land using the
+	 * PacketAnalyzer::register_protocol_detection bif method.
+	 *
+	 * @param len The number of bytes passed in. As we move along the chain of
+	 * analyzers, this is the number of bytes we have left of the packet to
+	 * process.
+	 * @param data Pointer to the input to process.
+	 * @param packet Object that maintains the packet's meta data.
+	 * @return true if the protocol is detected in the packet data.
+	 */
+	virtual bool DetectProtocol(size_t len, const uint8_t* data, Packet* packet) { return false; }
+
 protected:
 	friend class Manager;
 
@@ -174,6 +202,8 @@ private:
 	 */
 	bool report_unknown_protocols = true;
 
+	std::set<AnalyzerPtr> analyzers_to_detect;
+
 	void Init(const zeek::Tag& tag);
 	};
 
diff --git a/src/packet_analysis/packet_analysis.bif b/src/packet_analysis/packet_analysis.bif
index 8298b3946f..c3f6e18194 100644
--- a/src/packet_analysis/packet_analysis.bif
+++ b/src/packet_analysis/packet_analysis.bif
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ function register_packet_analyzer%(parent: PacketAnalyzer::Tag, identifier: coun
 	return zeek::val_mgr->True();
 	%}
 
-## Attempts to add an entry to `parent`'s dispatcher that maps a protocol/index to a next-stage `child` analyzer.
-## This may fail if either of the two names does not respond to a known analyzer.
+## Attempts to add an entry to `parent`'s dispatcher that maps a protocol/index to a next-stage `child`
+## analyzer. This may fail if either of the two names does not respond to a known analyzer.
 ##
 ## parent: The parent analyzer being modified
 ## identifier: The identifier for the protocol being registered
@@ -58,3 +58,22 @@ function PacketAnalyzer::__set_ignore_checksums_nets%(v: subnet_set%) : bool
 	zeek::packet_analysis::IP::IPBasedAnalyzer::SetIgnoreChecksumsNets(zeek::IntrusivePtr{zeek::NewRef{}, v->AsTableVal()});
 	return zeek::val_mgr->True();
 	%}
+
+## Registers a child analyzer with a parent analyzer to perform packet detection when determining whether
+## to forward from parent to child.
+##
+## parent: The parent analyzer being modified
+## child: The analyzer that will use protocol detection
+function register_protocol_detection%(parent: PacketAnalyzer::Tag, child: PacketAnalyzer::Tag%): bool
+	%{
+	packet_analysis::AnalyzerPtr parent_analyzer = packet_mgr->GetAnalyzer(parent->AsEnumVal());
+	if ( ! parent_analyzer )
+		return zeek::val_mgr->False();
+
+	packet_analysis::AnalyzerPtr child_analyzer = packet_mgr->GetAnalyzer(child->AsEnumVal());
+	if ( ! child_analyzer )
+		return zeek::val_mgr->False();
+
+	parent_analyzer->RegisterProtocolDetection(child_analyzer);
+	return zeek::val_mgr->True();
+	%}