diff --git a/capa/features/extractors/binexport2/__init__.py b/capa/features/extractors/binexport2/__init__.py
index aaa1d911..ce16e0e8 100644
--- a/capa/features/extractors/binexport2/__init__.py
+++ b/capa/features/extractors/binexport2/__init__.py
@@ -40,12 +40,16 @@ from capa.features.extractors.binexport2.binexport2_pb2 import BinExport2
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def get_binexport2(sample: Path) -> BinExport2:
+def get_binexport2_from_bytes(buf: bytes) -> BinExport2:
     be2: BinExport2 = BinExport2()
-    be2.ParseFromString(sample.read_bytes())
+    be2.ParseFromString(buf)
     return be2
 
 
+def get_binexport2(sample: Path) -> BinExport2:
+    return get_binexport2_from_bytes(sample.read_bytes())
+
+
 def compute_common_prefix_length(m: str, n: str) -> int:
     # ensure #m < #n
     if len(n) < len(m):