diff --git a/src/core.rs b/src/core.rs
index cde224f..bb15987 100644
--- a/src/core.rs
+++ b/src/core.rs
@@ -435,14 +435,14 @@ impl<F: Field> ReedSolomon<F> {
         vandermonde.multiply(&top.invert().unwrap())
     }
 
-    /// Creates a new instance of Reed-Solomon erasure code encoder/decoder.
+    /// Cheks the validity of data and parity shard counts.
     ///
     /// Returns `Error::TooFewDataShards` if `data_shards == 0`.
     ///
     /// Returns `Error::TooFewParityShards` if `parity_shards == 0`.
     ///
     /// Returns `Error::TooManyShards` if `data_shards + parity_shards > F::ORDER`.
-    pub fn new(data_shards: usize, parity_shards: usize) -> Result<ReedSolomon<F>, Error> {
+    fn check_shard_count(data_shards: usize, parity_shards: usize) -> Result<(), Error> {
         if data_shards == 0 {
             return Err(Error::TooFewDataShards);
         }
@@ -452,6 +452,18 @@ impl<F: Field> ReedSolomon<F> {
         if data_shards + parity_shards > F::ORDER {
             return Err(Error::TooManyShards);
         }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Creates a new instance of Reed-Solomon erasure code encoder/decoder.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::TooFewDataShards` if `data_shards == 0`.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::TooFewParityShards` if `parity_shards == 0`.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::TooManyShards` if `data_shards + parity_shards > F::ORDER`.
+    pub fn new(data_shards: usize, parity_shards: usize) -> Result<ReedSolomon<F>, Error> {
+        Self::check_shard_count(data_shards, parity_shards)?;
 
         let total_shards = data_shards + parity_shards;
 
@@ -466,6 +478,42 @@ impl<F: Field> ReedSolomon<F> {
         })
     }
 
+    /// Creates a new instance of Reed-Solomon erasure code encoder/decoder with an externally built matrix.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::TooFewDataShards` if `data_shards == 0`.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::TooFewParityShards` if `parity_shards == 0`.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::TooManyShards` if `data_shards + parity_shards > F::ORDER`.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::IncorrectShardSize` if `data_shards != matrix.col_count()`.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error::IncorrectShardSize` if `data_shards + parity_shards != matrix.row_count()`.
+    pub fn new_with_matrix(
+        data_shards: usize,
+        parity_shards: usize,
+        matrix: Matrix<F>,
+    ) -> Result<ReedSolomon<F>, Error> {
+        Self::check_shard_count(data_shards, parity_shards)?;
+
+        let total_shards = data_shards + parity_shards;
+
+        if data_shards != matrix.col_count() {
+            return Err(Error::IncorrectShardSize);
+        }
+        if total_shards != matrix.row_count() {
+            return Err(Error::IncorrectShardSize);
+        }
+
+        Ok(ReedSolomon {
+            data_shard_count: data_shards,
+            parity_shard_count: parity_shards,
+            total_shard_count: total_shards,
+            matrix,
+            data_decode_matrix_cache: Mutex::new(LruCache::new(DATA_DECODE_MATRIX_CACHE_CAPACITY)),
+        })
+    }
+
     pub fn data_shard_count(&self) -> usize {
         self.data_shard_count
     }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 0ba04ae..1bcbf1d 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -30,13 +30,13 @@ mod macros;
 
 mod core;
 mod errors;
-mod matrix;
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests;
 
 pub mod galois_16;
 pub mod galois_8;
+pub mod matrix;
 
 pub use crate::errors::Error;
 pub use crate::errors::SBSError;
diff --git a/src/tests/mod.rs b/src/tests/mod.rs
index 488443b..3c1508c 100644
--- a/src/tests/mod.rs
+++ b/src/tests/mod.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ extern crate alloc;
 use alloc::vec;
 use alloc::vec::Vec;
 
-use super::{galois_8, Error, SBSError};
+use super::{galois_8, matrix, Error, SBSError};
 use rand::{self, thread_rng, Rng};
 
 mod galois_16;
@@ -2617,3 +2617,48 @@ fn test_encode_single_error_handling() {
         );
     }
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn test_new_with_matrix_invalid_data_shards() {
+    let matrix = matrix::Matrix::new_with_data(vec![
+        vec![1, 0, 0],
+        vec![0, 1, 0],
+        vec![0, 0, 1],
+        vec![1, 1, 1],
+        vec![4, 2, 1],
+    ]);
+
+    assert_eq!(
+        Error::IncorrectShardSize,
+        ReedSolomon::new_with_matrix(10, 2, matrix).unwrap_err()
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_new_with_matrix_invalid_parity_shards() {
+    let matrix = matrix::Matrix::new_with_data(vec![
+        vec![1, 0, 0],
+        vec![0, 1, 0],
+        vec![0, 0, 1],
+        vec![1, 1, 1],
+        vec![4, 2, 1],
+    ]);
+
+    assert_eq!(
+        Error::IncorrectShardSize,
+        ReedSolomon::new_with_matrix(3, 1, matrix).unwrap_err()
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_new_with_matrix_ok() {
+    let matrix = matrix::Matrix::new_with_data(vec![
+        vec![1, 0, 0],
+        vec![0, 1, 0],
+        vec![0, 0, 1],
+        vec![1, 1, 1],
+        vec![4, 2, 1],
+    ]);
+
+    assert!(ReedSolomon::new_with_matrix(3, 2, matrix).is_ok());
+}