diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8ffb219..7462751 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
 # [unreleased]
 
+## Changed
+
+- Added distinction between `CcsdsPacketReader::user_data` and `CcsdsPacketReader::packet_data`.
+
 # [v0.17.0] 2025-11-06
 
 ## Changed
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index cb61659..07d829f 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1528,12 +1528,19 @@ pub enum CcsdsPacketReadError {
 }
 
 /// CCSDS packet reader structure.
+///
+/// This implementation makes one assumption about the passed data: It allows verifying a
+/// CRC16-CCITT checksum at the last two bytes of the packet data field and excluding it from the
+/// [Self::packet_data] slice. For that purpose, it makes a distinction between the full
+/// [Self::packet_data] including the checksum, and [Self::user_data] which does not include
+/// the checksum.
 #[derive(Debug)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "defmt", derive(defmt::Format))]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize))]
 pub struct CcsdsPacketReader<'buf> {
     sp_header: SpHeader,
     packet_data: &'buf [u8],
+    checksum: Option<u16>,
 }
 
 impl<'buf> CcsdsPacketReader<'buf> {
@@ -1550,7 +1557,7 @@ impl<'buf> CcsdsPacketReader<'buf> {
     /// Generic constructor.
     pub fn new(
         buf: &'buf [u8],
-        checksum: Option<ChecksumType>,
+        checksum_type: Option<ChecksumType>,
     ) -> Result<Self, CcsdsPacketReadError> {
         let sp_header = SpHeader::from_be_bytes(&buf[0..CCSDS_HEADER_LEN])?.0;
         if sp_header.packet_len() > buf.len() {
@@ -1560,21 +1567,26 @@ impl<'buf> CcsdsPacketReader<'buf> {
             }
             .into());
         }
-        let user_data = match checksum {
+        let checksum = match checksum_type {
             Some(ChecksumType::WithCrc16) => {
                 if CRC_CCITT_FALSE.checksum(&buf[0..sp_header.packet_len()]) != 0 {
                     return Err(CcsdsPacketReadError::CrcError);
                 }
-                &buf[CCSDS_HEADER_LEN..sp_header.packet_len() - 2]
+                Some(u16::from_be_bytes([
+                    buf[sp_header.packet_len() - 2],
+                    buf[sp_header.packet_len() - 1],
+                ]))
             }
-            Some(ChecksumType::WithCrc16ButIgnored) => {
-                &buf[CCSDS_HEADER_LEN..sp_header.packet_len() - 2]
-            }
-            None => &buf[CCSDS_HEADER_LEN..sp_header.packet_len()],
+            Some(ChecksumType::WithCrc16ButIgnored) => Some(u16::from_be_bytes([
+                buf[sp_header.packet_len() - 2],
+                buf[sp_header.packet_len() - 1],
+            ])),
+            None => None,
         };
         Ok(Self {
             sp_header,
-            packet_data: user_data,
+            packet_data: &buf[CCSDS_HEADER_LEN..sp_header.packet_len()],
+            checksum,
         })
     }
 }
@@ -1598,12 +1610,27 @@ impl CcsdsPacketReader<'_> {
         self.sp_header.packet_id.packet_type
     }
 
-    /// Read-only access to the packet data field.
+    /// Read-only access to the full packet data field.
+    ///
+    /// This might also include the checksum. [Self::user_data] can be used to only retrieve the
+    /// user data slice without the checksum part.
     #[inline]
     pub fn packet_data(&self) -> &[u8] {
         self.packet_data
     }
 
+    /// Read-only access to the user data field.
+    ///
+    /// This is the data without the checksum, if the packet has one.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn user_data(&self) -> &[u8] {
+        if self.checksum.is_some() {
+            self.packet_data()[0..self.packet_data().len() - 2].as_ref()
+        } else {
+            self.packet_data()
+        }
+    }
+
     /// 11-bit Application Process ID field.
     #[inline]
     pub fn apid(&self) -> u11 {
@@ -1633,6 +1660,12 @@ impl CcsdsPacketReader<'_> {
     pub fn data_len(&self) -> u16 {
         self.sp_header.data_len()
     }
+
+    /// Packet checksum if available.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn checksum(&self) -> Option<u16> {
+        self.checksum
+    }
 }
 
 impl CcsdsPacket for CcsdsPacketReader<'_> {
@@ -2211,7 +2244,7 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         let reader =
             CcsdsPacketReader::new(&buf[0..13], Some(ChecksumType::WithCrc16ButIgnored)).unwrap();
         // Enforced 1 byte packet length.
-        assert_eq!(reader.packet_data(), &data);
+        assert_eq!(reader.user_data(), &data);
         assert_eq!(reader.packet_len(), 13);
     }
 
@@ -2415,7 +2448,7 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         .to_vec();
         let reader =
             CcsdsPacketReader::new(&packet_raw, Some(ChecksumType::WithCrc16ButIgnored)).unwrap();
-        assert_eq!(reader.packet_data(), data);
+        assert_eq!(reader.user_data(), data);
     }
 
     fn generic_test_creator(packet_raw: &[u8], sp_header: &SpHeader, packet_type: PacketType) {
@@ -2482,7 +2515,7 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
     }
 
     fn generic_ccsds_reader_test(
-        packet_data: &[u8],
+        user_data: &[u8],
         packet_raw: &[u8],
         packet_type: PacketType,
         sp_header: SpHeader,
@@ -2493,7 +2526,11 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         );
         let reader = CcsdsPacketReader::new_with_checksum(packet_raw).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(*reader.sp_header(), sp_header);
-        assert_eq!(reader.packet_data(), packet_data);
+        assert_eq!(
+            &reader.packet_data()[0..reader.packet_data().len() - 2],
+            user_data
+        );
+        assert_eq!(reader.user_data(), user_data);
         assert_eq!(reader.apid(), u11::new(0x1));
         assert_eq!(
             reader.packet_id(),
@@ -2704,7 +2741,7 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         *packet_raw.last_mut().unwrap() = 0;
         let reader =
             CcsdsPacketReader::new(&packet_raw, Some(ChecksumType::WithCrc16ButIgnored)).unwrap();
-        assert_eq!(reader.packet_data(), data);
+        assert_eq!(reader.user_data(), data);
     }
 
     #[test]