diff --git a/skimage/feature/_brief_cy.pyx b/skimage/feature/_brief_cy.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..43d54f7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skimage/feature/_brief_cy.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#cython: cdivision=True
+#cython: boundscheck=False
+#cython: nonecheck=False
+#cython: wraparound=False
+
+cimport numpy as cnp
+
+
+def _brief_loop(double[:, ::1] image, char[:, ::1] descriptors,
+                Py_ssize_t[:, ::1] keypoints,
+                int[:, ::1] pos0, int[:, ::1] pos1):
+
+    cdef Py_ssize_t k, d, kr, kc, pr0, pr1, pc0, pc1
+
+    for p in range(pos0.shape[0]):
+        pr0 = pos0[p, 0]
+        pc0 = pos0[p, 1]
+        pr1 = pos1[p, 0]
+        pc1 = pos1[p, 1]
+        for k in range(keypoints.shape[0]):
+            kr = keypoints[k, 0]
+            kc = keypoints[k, 1]
+            if image[kr + pr0, kc + pc0] < image[kr + pr1, kc + pc1]:
+                    descriptors[k, p] = True