diff --git a/core/file/dicom/mapper.cpp b/core/file/dicom/mapper.cpp
index b277425291..1418a61672 100644
--- a/core/file/dicom/mapper.cpp
+++ b/core/file/dicom/mapper.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 #include "header.h"
 #include "phase_encoding.h"
+#include "image_io/null.h"
 #include "image_io/default.h"
 #include "image_io/mosaic.h"
 #include "image_io/variable_scaling.h"
@@ -68,6 +69,8 @@ namespace MR {
         // build up sorted list of frames:
         vector<Frame*> frames;
 
+        bool transfer_syntax_supported = true;
+
         // loop over series list:
         for (const auto& series_it : series) {
           try {
@@ -82,13 +85,9 @@ namespace MR {
 
           // loop over images in each series:
           for (auto image_it : *series_it) {
-            if (!image_it->transfer_syntax_supported) {
-              Exception E ("unsupported transfer syntax found in DICOM data");
-              E.push_back ("consider using third-party tools to convert your data to standard uncompressed encoding");
-              E.push_back ("See the MRtrix3 documentation on DICOM handling for details:");
-              E.push_back ("   http://mrtrix.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.html#error-unsupported-transfer-syntax");
-              throw E;
-            }
+            if (!image_it->transfer_syntax_supported)
+              transfer_syntax_supported = false;
+
             // if multi-frame, loop over frames in image:
             if (image_it->frames.size()) {
               std::sort (image_it->frames.begin(), image_it->frames.end(), compare_ptr_contents());
@@ -209,7 +208,7 @@ namespace MR {
         }
 
         size_t nchannels = image.samples_per_pixel;
-        if (nchannels == 1 && !image.frames.size()) {
+        if (nchannels == 1 && !image.frames.size() && transfer_syntax_supported) {
           // only guess number of samples per pixel if not explicitly set in
           // DICOM and not using multi-frame:
           nchannels = image.data_size / (frame.dim[0] * frame.dim[1] * (frame.bits_alloc/8));
@@ -363,6 +362,17 @@ namespace MR {
         }
 
 
+        if (!transfer_syntax_supported) {
+          WARN ("unsupported transfer syntax found in DICOM data");
+          WARN ("header information is accessible, but commands requiring access to image intensity data will fail");
+          WARN ("consider using third-party tools to convert your data to standard uncompressed encoding");
+          WARN ("See the MRtrix3 documentation on DICOM handling for details:");
+          WARN ("   http://mrtrix.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.html#error-unsupported-transfer-syntax");
+
+          io_handler.reset (new MR::ImageIO::Null (H));
+          return io_handler;
+        }
+
         if (image.images_in_mosaic) {
 
           INFO ("DICOM image \"" + H.name() + "\" is in mosaic format");
diff --git a/core/image_io/null.cpp b/core/image_io/null.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..584a81afde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/image_io/null.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2008-2024 the MRtrix3 contributors.
+ *
+ * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+ *
+ * Covered Software is provided under this License on an "as is"
+ * basis, without warranty of any kind, either expressed, implied, or
+ * statutory, including, without limitation, warranties that the
+ * Covered Software is free of defects, merchantable, fit for a
+ * particular purpose or non-infringing.
+ * See the Mozilla Public License v. 2.0 for more details.
+ *
+ * For more details, see http://www.mrtrix.org/.
+ */
+
+#include "image_io/null.h"
+#include "header.h"
+
+namespace MR {
+  namespace ImageIO {
+
+    void Null::load(const Header &header, size_t) {
+      throw Exception("No suitable handler to access data in \"" + header.name() +
+          "\"");
+    }
+
+    void Null::unload(const Header &header) {
+      throw Exception("No suitable handler to access data in \"" + header.name() +
+          "\"");
+    }
+
+  } // namespace ImageIO
+} // namespace MR
diff --git a/core/image_io/null.h b/core/image_io/null.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc88606426
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/image_io/null.h
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2008-2024 the MRtrix3 contributors.
+ *
+ * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+ *
+ * Covered Software is provided under this License on an "as is"
+ * basis, without warranty of any kind, either expressed, implied, or
+ * statutory, including, without limitation, warranties that the
+ * Covered Software is free of defects, merchantable, fit for a
+ * particular purpose or non-infringing.
+ * See the Mozilla Public License v. 2.0 for more details.
+ *
+ * For more details, see http://www.mrtrix.org/.
+ */
+
+#ifndef __image_io_null_h__
+#define __image_io_null_h__
+
+#include "image_io/base.h"
+
+namespace MR {
+  namespace ImageIO {
+
+    class Null : public Base {
+      NOMEMALIGN
+      public:
+        Null(const Header &header) : Base(header) {}
+
+      protected:
+        virtual void load(const Header &, size_t);
+        virtual void unload(const Header &);
+    };
+
+  } // namespace ImageIO
+} // namespace MR
+
+#endif
diff --git a/docs/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.rst b/docs/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.rst
index af9ff389b5..a9c7cee3d9 100644
--- a/docs/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.rst
+++ b/docs/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.rst
@@ -375,44 +375,71 @@ these are:
 
 - Explicit VR Big Endian (``1.2.840.10008.1.2.2``)
 
-Any other transfer syntax will be flagged as unsupported, and *MRtrix3* will be
-unable to read the data, providing an error message similar to this:
+Any other transfer syntax will be flagged as unsupported. When this occurs,
+whether or not the *MRtrix3* command can proceed will depend on whether that
+command requires access to the underlying image data:
+
+- If *only header information* is required, then the command will be able to proceed,
+  albeit with a warning issued:
 
 .. code-block:: console
 
-    $ mrinfo DICOM
-    mrinfo: [done] scanning DICOM folder "DICOM"
-    mrinfo: [ERROR] unable to read DICOM images in "DICOM":
-    mrinfo: [ERROR]   unsupported transfer syntax found in DICOM data
-    mrinfo: [ERROR]   consider using third-party tools to convert your data to standard uncompressed encoding
-    mrinfo: [ERROR] See the MRtrix3 documentation on DICOM handling for details:
-    mrinfo: [ERROR]    http://mrtrix.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.html#error-unsupported-transfer-syntax
-    mrinfo: [ERROR] error opening image "DICOM"
-
-Thankfully, other tools exist that should be able to convert the data to a
-format that *MRtrix3* (and other DICOM tools) will read. The `dcmtk
-<http://dicom.offis.de/dcmtk.php.en>`__ DICOM toolkit in particular provides
-the ``dcmdjpeg`` command to decompress data stored using JPEG transfer syntax.
-On Linux, a directory of such files can be decompressed as follows (amend the
-various ``PATH`` as required for your system):
+    $ mrinfo DICOM/
+    mrinfo: [done] scanning folder "DICOM/" for DICOM data
+    mrinfo: [100%] Reading DICOM series "SeriesDescription"
+    mrinfo: [WARNING] unable to read DICOM images in "DICOM/":
+    mrinfo: [WARNING] unsupported transfer syntax found in DICOM data
+    mrinfo: [WARNING] consider using third-party tools to convert your data to standard uncompressed encoding
+    mrinfo: [WARNING] See the MRtrix3 documentation on DICOM handling for details:
+    mrinfo: [WARNING]   http://mrtrix.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.html#error-unsupported-transfer-syntax
+    ************************************************
+    Image name:          "SURNAME^FIRSTNAME [MR] SeriesDescription"
+    ************************************************
+      Dimensions:        96 x 96 x 60 x 7
+      Voxel size:        2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 x ?
+      Data strides:      [ -1 -2 3 4 ]
+      ....
+
+- If however a command requires *access to the underlying image intensities*,
+  then *MRtrix3* will be unable to read from such:
+
 
 .. code-block:: console
+
+    $ mrconvert DICOM/ data.mif
+    mrconvert: [done] scanning folder "DICOM/" for DICOM data
+    mrconvert: [100%] Reading DICOM series "SeriesDescription"
+    mrconvert: [WARNING] unable to read DICOM images in "DICOM/":
+    mrconvert: [WARNING] unsupported transfer syntax found in DICOM data
+    mrconvert: [WARNING] consider using third-party tools to convert your data to standard uncompressed encoding
+    mrconvert: [WARNING] See the MRtrix3 documentation on DICOM handling for details:
+    mrconvert: [WARNING]   http://mrtrix.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tips_and_tricks/dicom_handling.html#error-unsupported-transfer-syntax
+    mrconvert: [ERROR] No suitable handler to access data in "SURNAME^FIRSTNAME [MR] SeriesDescription"
+
+  Thankfully, other tools exist that should be able to convert the data to a
+  format that *MRtrix3* (and other DICOM tools) will read. The `dcmtk
+  <http://dicom.offis.de/dcmtk.php.en>`__ DICOM toolkit in particular provides
+  the ``dcmdjpeg`` command to decompress data stored using JPEG transfer syntax.
+  On Linux, a directory of such files can be decompressed as follows (amend the
+  various ``PATH`` as required for your system):
+
+  .. code-block:: console
     
-    $ export PATH=/opt/dcmtk/bin:$PATH
-    $ export DCMDICTPATH=/opt/dcmtk/share/dcmtk/dicom.dic
+      $ export PATH=/opt/dcmtk/bin:$PATH
+      $ export DCMDICTPATH=/opt/dcmtk/share/dcmtk/dicom.dic
 
-    $ for img in dcmdir/*
-    > do
-    >     dcmdjpeg $img ${img}.tmp
-    >     mv ${img}.tmp $img
-    > done
+      $ for img in dcmdir/*
+      > do
+      >     dcmdjpeg $img ${img}.tmp
+      >     mv ${img}.tmp $img
+      > done
 
-*MRtrix3* commands should now be able to read the directory successfully:
+  *MRtrix3* commands should now be able to read the directory successfully:
 
-.. code-block:: console
+  .. code-block:: console
 
-    $ mrinfo dcmdir
-    mrinfo: [done] scanning DICOM folder "data/driss/t1"
-    mrinfo: [100%] reading DICOM series "AX FSPGR 3D ASSET  C+"
-    ...
+      $ mrinfo dcmdir
+      mrinfo: [done] scanning DICOM folder "data/driss/t1"
+      mrinfo: [100%] reading DICOM series "AX FSPGR 3D ASSET  C+"
+      ...