diff --git a/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp b/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp
index 69e03179b3..89cf0fbf80 100644
--- a/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp
+++ b/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp
@@ -497,6 +497,24 @@ static bool parse_target_bpw(const char * data, float & target_bpw) {
     return true;
 }
 
+static const char * get_ftype(const float bpw) {
+    const std::map<float, const char *> quant_bpw = {
+        {1.5625, "IQ1_S"},
+        {1.7500, "IQ1_M"},
+        {2.0625, "IQ2_XXS"},
+        {2.6250, "Q2_K"},
+        {3.0625, "IQ3_XXS"},
+        {3.4375, "Q3_K"},
+        {4.2500, "IQ4_XS"},
+        {4.5000, "Q4_K"},
+        {5.5000, "Q5_K"},
+        {6.5625, "Q6_K"},
+        {8.5000, "Q8_0"}
+    };
+
+    return quant_bpw.lower_bound(bpw)->second;
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
     if (argc < 3) {
         usage(argv[0]);
@@ -655,6 +673,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
     std::string ftype_str;
     std::string suffix = ".gguf";
+    std::vector<const char *> tmp_argv(argv, argv + argc);
     if (try_parse_ftype(argv[arg_idx], params.ftype, ftype_str)) {
         std::string fpath;
         const size_t pos = fname_inp.find_last_of("/\\");
@@ -678,7 +697,21 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         }
         arg_idx++;
 
-        if (argc <= arg_idx) {
+        // select quantization type if target_bpw is set unless user specifies type and threads
+        if (argc - arg_idx <= 1 && params.target_bpw != -1.0f) {
+            auto * ftype = const_cast<char *>(get_ftype(params.target_bpw));
+            if (argc == arg_idx) {
+                tmp_argv.push_back(ftype);
+                tmp_argv.push_back(nullptr);
+                argv = const_cast<char **>(tmp_argv.data());
+                argc++;
+            } else {
+                tmp_argv.insert(tmp_argv.end() - 1, ftype);
+                tmp_argv.push_back(nullptr);
+                argv = const_cast<char **>(tmp_argv.data());
+                argc++;
+            }
+        } else if (argc <= arg_idx) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: missing ftype\n", __func__);
             return 1;
         }