diff --git a/ipmitool/configure.in b/ipmitool/configure.in
index 8e6e10a..7adbe03 100644
--- a/ipmitool/configure.in
+++ b/ipmitool/configure.in
@@ -275,7 +275,30 @@ dnl Determine if you got the right FreeIPMI version
     ], ac_free_version_0_4_0=yes,ac_free_version_0_4_0=no)
     AC_MSG_RESULT($ac_free_version_0_4_0)
 
-    if test "x$ac_free_version_0_3_0" = "xyes" || test "x$ac_free_version_0_4_0" = "xyes"; then
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING([for libfreeipmi version 0.5.0])
+    AC_TRY_COMPILE([
+#include <sys/types.h>	/* For size_t */
+#include <stdio.h>	/* For NULL */
+#include <freeipmi/freeipmi.h>
+#include <freeipmi/udm/ipmi-udm.h>
+    ], [
+    ipmi_device_t dev = NULL;
+    int rv;
+    dev = ipmi_device_create();
+    rv = ipmi_open_inband(dev,
+                          IPMI_DEVICE_KCS,
+                          0,
+                          0,
+                          0,
+                          NULL,
+                          0,
+                          0);
+    ], ac_free_version_0_5_0=yes,ac_free_version_0_5_0=no)
+    AC_MSG_RESULT($ac_free_version_0_5_0)
+
+    if test "x$ac_free_version_0_3_0" = "xyes" \
+       || test "x$ac_free_version_0_4_0" = "xyes" \
+       || test "x$ac_free_version_0_5_0" = "xyes"; then
        AC_DEFINE(IPMI_INTF_FREE, [1], [Define to 1 to enable FreeIPMI interface.])
        AC_SUBST(INTF_FREE, [free])
        AC_SUBST(INTF_FREE_LIB, [libintf_free.la])
@@ -286,6 +309,9 @@ dnl Determine if you got the right FreeIPMI version
        if test "x$ac_free_version_0_4_0" = "xyes"; then
           AC_DEFINE(IPMI_INTF_FREE_VERSION_0_4_0, [1], [Define to 1 for FreeIPMI 0.4.0.])
        fi
+       if test "x$ac_free_version_0_5_0" = "xyes"; then
+          AC_DEFINE(IPMI_INTF_FREE_VERSION_0_5_0, [1], [Define to 1 for FreeIPMI 0.5.0.])
+       fi
     else
        enable_intf_free=no
     fi
diff --git a/ipmitool/src/plugins/free/free.c b/ipmitool/src/plugins/free/free.c
index 801befa..7933221 100644
--- a/ipmitool/src/plugins/free/free.c
+++ b/ipmitool/src/plugins/free/free.c
@@ -100,6 +100,33 @@ static int ipmi_free_open(struct ipmi_intf * intf)
                        goto cleanup;
                 }
         }
+#elif IPMI_INTF_FREE_VERSION_0_5_0
+        if (!(dev = ipmi_device_create())) {
+                perror("ipmi_open_inband()");
+                goto cleanup;
+        }
+        if (ipmi_open_inband (dev,
+                              IPMI_DEVICE_KCS,
+                              0,
+                              0,
+                              0,
+                              NULL,
+                              0,
+                              IPMI_FLAGS_DEFAULT) < 0) {
+                if (ipmi_open_inband (dev,
+                                      IPMI_DEVICE_SSIF,
+                                      0,
+                                      0,
+                                      0,
+                                      NULL,
+                                      0,
+                                      IPMI_FLAGS_DEFAULT) < 0) {
+                       fprintf(stderr, 
+                               "ipmi_open_inband(): %s\n",
+                               ipmi_device_strerror(ipmi_device_errnum(dev)));
+                       goto cleanup;
+                }
+        }
 #endif
 
 	intf->opened = 1;