diff --git a/doc.go b/doc.go
index a3bcebbc..f521872d 100644
--- a/doc.go
+++ b/doc.go
@@ -130,5 +130,12 @@ You can then use the custom driver by passing its name to sql.Open.
 	}
 
 See the documentation of RegisterFunc for more details.
+
+# Cgo SQLite3 Extensions
+
+Go callbacks are convenient, but the runtime overhead of reflecting
+incoming types can be significant.  For performance-critical
+functions, Cgo functions can also be defined.  See SQLiteConn's Raw
+method for an example.
 */
 package sqlite3
diff --git a/internal/sqlite3test/raw.go b/internal/sqlite3test/raw.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aed2e697
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/sqlite3test/raw.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package sqlite3test
+
+/*
+#cgo CFLAGS: -DUSE_LIBSQLITE3
+#cgo linux LDFLAGS: -lsqlite3
+#cgo darwin LDFLAGS: -L/usr/local/opt/sqlite/lib -lsqlite3
+#cgo darwin CFLAGS: -I/usr/local/opt/sqlite/include
+#cgo openbsd LDFLAGS: -lsqlite3
+#cgo solaris LDFLAGS: -lsqlite3
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <sqlite3.h>
+
+static void one(sqlite3_context* ctx, int n, sqlite3_value** vals) {
+    sqlite3_result_int(ctx, 1);
+}
+
+static inline int _create_function(sqlite3* c) {
+    return sqlite3_create_function(c, "one", 0, SQLITE_UTF8|SQLITE_DETERMINISTIC, NULL, one, NULL, NULL);
+}
+*/
+import "C"
+import (
+	sqlite3 "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+	"unsafe"
+)
+
+func RegisterFunction(conn *sqlite3.SQLiteConn) error {
+	return conn.Raw(func(raw unsafe.Pointer) error {
+		rawConn := (*C.sqlite3)(raw)
+		if ret := C._create_function(rawConn); ret != C.SQLITE_OK {
+			return sqlite3.ErrNo(ret)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+}
diff --git a/raw_test.go b/raw_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9ac4cbf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/raw_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package sqlite3_test
+
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+	"testing"
+
+	sqlite3 "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+	"github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3/internal/sqlite3test"
+)
+
+func TestRaw(t *testing.T) {
+	sql.Register("sqlite3_rawtest", &sqlite3.SQLiteDriver{
+		ConnectHook: func(c *sqlite3.SQLiteConn) error {
+			return sqlite3test.RegisterFunction(c)
+		},
+	})
+
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3_rawtest", "...")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	if err := db.Ping(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	var result int
+	if err := db.QueryRow(`SELECT one()`).Scan(&result); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if result != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("expected custom one() function to return 1, but got %d", result)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/sqlite3.go b/sqlite3.go
index a967cab0..fb8c7d95 100644
--- a/sqlite3.go
+++ b/sqlite3.go
@@ -809,6 +809,53 @@ func (c *SQLiteConn) RegisterAggregator(name string, impl any, pure bool) error
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Raw provides access to the underlying raw C sqlite context pointer
+// by casting the `raw` argument from `unsafe.Pointer` to
+// `*C.sqlite3`.  This is can be used, for example, to add your own C
+// functions directly (which, due to fewer runtime reflection checks,
+// typically run an order of magnitude faster).  For example:
+//
+//    /*
+//    #include <sqlite3.h>
+//    ...
+//    void myFunc(sqlite3_context *context, int argc, sqlite3_value **argv) {
+//        // Function definition
+//    }
+//
+//    int myfunc_setup(sqlite3 *db) {
+//        return sqlite3_create_function(db, "myFunc", ...);
+//    }
+//    */
+//    import "C"
+//
+//    d := &sqlite3.SQLiteDriver{
+//        ConnectHook: func(c *SQLiteConn) error {
+//            return c.Raw(func(raw unsafe.Pointer) error {
+//                db := (*C.sqlite3)(raw)
+//                if rv := C.myfunc_setup(db); rv != C.SQLITE_OK {
+//                    return sqlite3.ErrNo(rv)
+//                }
+//                return nil
+//            }
+//         },
+//    }
+//
+// Note that as of 1.13, go doesn't correctly handle passing C
+// function pointers back to C functions, so C.sqlite3_create_function
+// can't be called from Go directly.  See
+// https://github.com/golang/go/issues/19835 for more details.
+func (c *SQLiteConn) Raw(f func(unsafe.Pointer) error) error {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	if err := f(unsafe.Pointer(c.db)); err != nil {
+		if _, ok := err.(ErrNo); ok {
+			return c.lastError()
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // AutoCommit return which currently auto commit or not.
 func (c *SQLiteConn) AutoCommit() bool {
 	c.mu.Lock()