diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 52261fb3..4e9701e1 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ It supports features such as:
 - Works with GCC, Clang, Xcode, MSVC 2015, ICC, TCC, MinGW, MingGW-w64/32.
 - Works on Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS X, iOS and Windows. Also works on MSYS/MSYS2 and Cygwin.
 - Compiles for 32 and 64 bit.
+- Compiles and works on big and little endian systems.
 - The only dependency is on `zlib`.
 
 Here is an example that was used to create the spreadsheet shown above:
diff --git a/docs/src/getting_started.dox b/docs/src/getting_started.dox
index 3f0fdef2..10633080 100644
--- a/docs/src/getting_started.dox
+++ b/docs/src/getting_started.dox
@@ -419,6 +419,12 @@ to dynamically link against that you can use the following compilation option:
 
     make USE_SYSTEM_MINIZIP=1
 
+@section gsg_endian Compiling on Big Endian Architecture
+
+Libxlsxwriter can be compiled on a big endian system as follows:
+
+    make USE_BIG_ENDIAN=1
+
 @section gsg_next Next steps
 
 If you got libxlsxwriter built and working successfully then the next sections
diff --git a/docs/src/mainpage.dox b/docs/src/mainpage.dox
index 68088b48..025ca590 100644
--- a/docs/src/mainpage.dox
+++ b/docs/src/mainpage.dox
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ features such as:
 - Works with GCC, Clang, Xcode, MSVC 2015, ICC, TCC, MinGW, MingGW-w64/32.
 - Works on Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS X, iOS and Windows. Also works on MSYS/MSYS2 and Cygwin.
 - Compiles for 32 and 64 bit.
+- Compiles and works on big and little endian systems.
 - The only dependency is on `zlib`.
 
 This document explains how to use the libxlsxwriter library. See the
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ following sections for more information:
 - @ref workbook.h  "The Workbook object"
 - @ref worksheet.h "The Worksheet object"
 - @ref format.h    "The Format object"
-- @ref chart.h    "The Chart object"
+- @ref chart.h     "The Chart object"
 
 - @ref working_with_formats
 - @ref working_with_colors
diff --git a/include/xlsxwriter/common.h b/include/xlsxwriter/common.h
index b3de7b66..337925e5 100644
--- a/include/xlsxwriter/common.h
+++ b/include/xlsxwriter/common.h
@@ -268,9 +268,14 @@ enum lxw_custom_property_types {
                                (((n) & 0xFF0000)   >>  8) | \
                                (((n) & 0xFF000000) >> 24))
 #define LXW_UINT16_NETWORK(n) ((((n) & 0x00FF) << 8) | (((n) & 0xFF00) >> 8))
+#define LXW_UINT32_HOST(n)    (n)
 #else
 #define LXW_UINT32_NETWORK(n) (n)
 #define LXW_UINT16_NETWORK(n) (n)
+#define LXW_UINT32_HOST(n)    ((((n) & 0xFF)       << 24) | \
+                               (((n) & 0xFF00)     <<  8) | \
+                               (((n) & 0xFF0000)   >>  8) | \
+                               (((n) & 0xFF000000) >> 24))
 #endif
 
 /* *INDENT-OFF* */
diff --git a/libxlsxwriter.podspec b/libxlsxwriter.podspec
index 368302d5..bfb4c45e 100644
--- a/libxlsxwriter.podspec
+++ b/libxlsxwriter.podspec
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ Pod::Spec.new do |s|
                             * Works with GCC, Clang, Xcode, MSVC 2015, ICC, TCC, MinGW, MingGW-w64/32.
                             * Works on Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS X, iOS and Windows. Also works on MSYS/MSYS2 and Cygwin.
                             * Compiles for 32 and 64 bit.
+                            * Compiles and works on big and little endian systems.
                             * The only dependency is on `zlib`.
                             DESC
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 71f237a0..03ce95aa 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ TMPFILEPLUS_OBJ = $(TMPFILEPLUS_DIR)/tmpfileplus.o
 TMPFILEPLUS_SO  = $(TMPFILEPLUS_DIR)/tmpfileplus.so
 endif
 
+# Set flag for big endian architecture.
+ifdef USE_BIG_ENDIAN
+CFLAGS += -DLXW_BIG_ENDIAN
+endif
+
 # Flags passed to compiler.
 CFLAGS   += -g -O3 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic -ansi
 
diff --git a/src/worksheet.c b/src/worksheet.c
index 2815d1d6..916a334c 100644
--- a/src/worksheet.c
+++ b/src/worksheet.c
@@ -2418,6 +2418,9 @@ _process_bmp(lxw_image_options *image_options)
     if (width == 0)
         goto file_error;
 
+    height = LXW_UINT32_HOST(height);
+    width = LXW_UINT32_HOST(width);
+
     /* Set the image metadata. */
     image_options->image_type = LXW_IMAGE_BMP;
     image_options->width = width;