diff --git a/src/controllers/uploads.js b/src/controllers/uploads.js
index 3fd253410d..36ca7959e8 100644
--- a/src/controllers/uploads.js
+++ b/src/controllers/uploads.js
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ async function uploadAsImage(req, uploadedFile) {
 			uid: req.uid,
 		});
 	}
-	await file.isFileTypeAllowed(uploadedFile.path);
+	await image.isFileTypeAllowed(uploadedFile.path);
 
 	let fileObj = await uploadsController.uploadFile(req.uid, uploadedFile);
 
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ uploadsController.uploadThumb = async function (req, res, next) {
 		if (!uploadedFile.type.match(/image./)) {
 			throw new Error('[[error:invalid-file]]');
 		}
-		await file.isFileTypeAllowed(uploadedFile.path);
+		await image.isFileTypeAllowed(uploadedFile.path);
 		await image.resizeImage({
 			path: uploadedFile.path,
 			width: meta.config.topicThumbSize,
diff --git a/src/file.js b/src/file.js
index 7a9a366076..c8ccedb030 100644
--- a/src/file.js
+++ b/src/file.js
@@ -52,14 +52,8 @@ file.base64ToLocal = async function (imageData, uploadPath) {
 };
 
 file.isFileTypeAllowed = async function (path) {
-	var plugins = require('./plugins');
-	if (plugins.hasListeners('filter:file.isFileTypeAllowed')) {
-		return await plugins.fireHook('filter:file.isFileTypeAllowed', path);
-	}
-	const sharp = require('sharp');
-	await sharp(path, {
-		failOnError: true,
-	}).metadata();
+	winston.warn('[deprecated] file.isFileTypeAllowed is deprecated, use image.isFileTypeAllowed');
+	await require('./image').isFileTypeAllowed(path);
 };
 
 // https://stackoverflow.com/a/31205878/583363
diff --git a/src/image.js b/src/image.js
index 803ce0960b..ef373b6b72 100644
--- a/src/image.js
+++ b/src/image.js
@@ -24,6 +24,21 @@ function requireSharp() {
 	return sharp;
 }
 
+image.isFileTypeAllowed = async function (path) {
+	const plugins = require('./plugins');
+	// deprecated: remove in 1.14.0
+	if (plugins.hasListeners('filter:file.isFileTypeAllowed')) {
+		return await plugins.fireHook('filter:file.isFileTypeAllowed', path);
+	}
+	if (plugins.hasListeners('filter:image.isFileTypeAllowed')) {
+		return await plugins.fireHook('filter:image.isFileTypeAllowed', path);
+	}
+	const sharp = require('sharp');
+	await sharp(path, {
+		failOnError: true,
+	}).metadata();
+};
+
 image.resizeImage = async function (data) {
 	if (plugins.hasListeners('filter:image.resize')) {
 		await plugins.fireHook('filter:image.resize', {
@@ -155,29 +170,20 @@ image.sizeFromBase64 = function (imageData) {
 	return Buffer.from(imageData.slice(imageData.indexOf('base64') + 7), 'base64').length;
 };
 
-image.uploadImage = function (filename, folder, image, callback) {
+image.uploadImage = async function (filename, folder, imageData) {
 	if (plugins.hasListeners('filter:uploadImage')) {
-		return plugins.fireHook('filter:uploadImage', {
-			image: image,
-			uid: image.uid,
-		}, callback);
+		return await plugins.fireHook('filter:uploadImage', {
+			image: imageData,
+			uid: imageData.uid,
+		});
 	}
-
-	async.waterfall([
-		function (next) {
-			file.isFileTypeAllowed(image.path, next);
-		},
-		function (next) {
-			file.saveFileToLocal(filename, folder, image.path, next);
-		},
-		function (upload, next) {
-			next(null, {
-				url: upload.url,
-				path: upload.path,
-				name: image.name,
-			});
-		},
-	], callback);
+	await image.isFileTypeAllowed(imageData.path);
+	const upload = await file.saveFileToLocal(filename, folder, imageData.path);
+	return {
+		url: upload.url,
+		path: upload.path,
+		name: imageData.name,
+	};
 };
 
 require('./promisify')(image);
diff --git a/src/plugins/hooks.js b/src/plugins/hooks.js
index 671588b7d2..32bf48c534 100644
--- a/src/plugins/hooks.js
+++ b/src/plugins/hooks.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ module.exports = function (Plugins) {
 		'filter:user.account': 'filter:account/profile.build',
 		'filter:user.account.edit': 'filter:account/edit.build',
 		'filter:notifications.get': 'filter:notifications.build',
+		'filter:file.isFileTypeAllowed': 'filter:image.isFileTypeAllowed',
 	};
 
 	Plugins.internals = {
diff --git a/src/topics/thumb.js b/src/topics/thumb.js
index 2d9be49856..33b750e7c0 100644
--- a/src/topics/thumb.js
+++ b/src/topics/thumb.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ module.exports = function (Topics) {
 
 			await pipeToFileAsync(data.thumb, pathToUpload);
 
-			await file.isFileTypeAllowed(pathToUpload);
+			await image.isFileTypeAllowed(pathToUpload);
 
 			await image.resizeImage({
 				path: pathToUpload,
diff --git a/test/uploads.js b/test/uploads.js
index 6d05046be1..44ea53cdcd 100644
--- a/test/uploads.js
+++ b/test/uploads.js
@@ -163,6 +163,13 @@ describe('Upload Controllers', function () {
 			});
 		});
 
+		it('should fail if file is not an image', function (done) {
+			image.isFileTypeAllowed(path.join(__dirname, '../test/files/notanimage.png'), function (err) {
+				assert.equal(err.message, 'Input file contains unsupported image format');
+				done();
+			});
+		});
+
 		it('should fail if file is not an image', function (done) {
 			image.size(path.join(__dirname, '../test/files/notanimage.png'), function (err) {
 				assert.equal(err.message, 'Input file contains unsupported image format');