Egyptian police have arrested a man carrying a crude explosive device near the heavily fortified US embassy in downtown Cairo, The New Arab's Arabic-language service reported.
Security sources said the man was intercepted on Tuesday after a "primitive" explosive device went off outside concrete blast barriers, which encircle the embassy.
They added he has been taken to a nearby police station for questioning.
Local media published images of police detaining the unnamed suspect and footage of the blast.
The US embassy said in an online statement that officials were "aware of a reported incident" near the embassy and advised its citizens to avoid the area.
The area around the embassy has for decades been heavily policed, with concrete barriers blocking vehicular traffic in its immediate vicinity.
The British embassy is located across the road from the US diplomatic compound.
Militants launched an insurgency in Egypt after the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, who was forced out by the military in the face of mass protests against his rule.
Islamic State group-linked attacks have largely been concentrated in the Sinai Peninsula in eastern Egypt, but have also taken place elsewhere across the country.
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