diff --git a/devlib/target.py b/devlib/target.py
index 2989b9c..f07f326 100644
--- a/devlib/target.py
+++ b/devlib/target.py
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ class Target(object):
         return paths
 
     @call_conn
-    def pull(self, source, dest, as_root=False, timeout=None, globbing=False):  # pylint: disable=arguments-differ
+    def pull(self, source, dest, as_root=False, timeout=None, globbing=False, via_temp=False):  # pylint: disable=arguments-differ
         source = str(source)
         dest = str(dest)
 
@@ -658,17 +658,21 @@ class Target(object):
         else:
             sources = [source]
 
+        # The SSH server might not have the right permissions to read the file,
+        # so use a temporary copy instead.
+        via_temp |= as_root
+
         mapping = self._prepare_xfer('pull', sources, dest, pattern=source if globbing else None, as_root=as_root)
 
         def do_pull(sources, dest):
             self.conn.pull(sources, dest, timeout=timeout)
 
-        if as_root:
+        if via_temp:
             for sources, dest in mapping.items():
                 for source in sources:
                     with self._xfer_cache_path(source) as device_tempfile:
-                        self.execute("cp -r -- {} {}".format(quote(source), quote(device_tempfile)), as_root=True)
-                        self.execute("{} chmod 0644 -- {}".format(self.busybox, quote(device_tempfile)), as_root=True)
+                        self.execute("cp -r -- {} {}".format(quote(source), quote(device_tempfile)), as_root=as_root)
+                        self.execute("{} chmod 0644 -- {}".format(self.busybox, quote(device_tempfile)), as_root=as_root)
                         do_pull([device_tempfile], dest)
         else:
             for sources, dest in mapping.items():
diff --git a/doc/target.rst b/doc/target.rst
index 10f7db2..f17cfe4 100644
--- a/doc/target.rst
+++ b/doc/target.rst
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ Target
         matches, ``dest`` must be a folder (or will be created as such if it
         does not exists yet).
 
-.. method:: Target.pull(source, dest [, as_root, timeout, globbing])
+.. method:: Target.pull(source, dest [, as_root, timeout, globbing, via_temp])
 
    Transfer a file from the target device to the host machine.
 
@@ -267,6 +267,10 @@ Target
         pattern instead of being take as-is. If the pattern has multiple
         matches, ``dest`` must be a folder (or will be created as such if it
         does not exists yet).
+   :param via_temp: If ``True``, copy the file first to a temporary location on
+        the target, and then pull it. This can avoid issues some filesystems,
+        notably paramiko + OpenSSH combination having performance issues when
+        pulling big files from sysfs.
 
 .. method:: Target.execute(command [, timeout [, check_exit_code [, as_root [, strip_colors [, will_succeed [, force_locale]]]]]])