diff --git a/libavcodec/vaapi_encode.c b/libavcodec/vaapi_encode.c
index f838ee5bd5..35a4e90f67 100644
--- a/libavcodec/vaapi_encode.c
+++ b/libavcodec/vaapi_encode.c
@@ -1387,6 +1387,51 @@ static av_cold int vaapi_encode_init_rate_control(AVCodecContext *avctx)
     return 0;
 }
 
+static av_cold int vaapi_encode_init_quality(AVCodecContext *avctx)
+{
+#if VA_CHECK_VERSION(0, 36, 0)
+    VAAPIEncodeContext *ctx = avctx->priv_data;
+    VAStatus vas;
+    VAConfigAttrib attr = { VAConfigAttribEncQualityRange };
+    int quality = avctx->compression_level;
+
+    vas = vaGetConfigAttributes(ctx->hwctx->display,
+                                ctx->va_profile,
+                                ctx->va_entrypoint,
+                                &attr, 1);
+    if (vas != VA_STATUS_SUCCESS) {
+        av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Failed to query quality "
+               "config attribute: %d (%s).\n", vas, vaErrorStr(vas));
+        return AVERROR_EXTERNAL;
+    }
+
+    if (attr.value == VA_ATTRIB_NOT_SUPPORTED) {
+        if (quality != 0) {
+            av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_WARNING, "Quality attribute is not "
+                   "supported: will use default quality level.\n");
+        }
+    } else {
+        if (quality > attr.value) {
+            av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_WARNING, "Invalid quality level: "
+                   "valid range is 0-%d, using %d.\n",
+                   attr.value, attr.value);
+            quality = attr.value;
+        }
+
+        ctx->quality_params.misc.type = VAEncMiscParameterTypeQualityLevel;
+        ctx->quality_params.quality.quality_level = quality;
+
+        vaapi_encode_add_global_param(avctx, &ctx->quality_params.misc,
+                                      sizeof(ctx->quality_params));
+    }
+#else
+    av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_WARNING, "The encode quality option is "
+           "not supported with this VAAPI version.\n");
+#endif
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static void vaapi_encode_free_output_buffer(void *opaque,
                                             uint8_t *data)
 {
@@ -1568,6 +1613,12 @@ av_cold int ff_vaapi_encode_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
     if (err < 0)
         goto fail;
 
+    if (avctx->compression_level >= 0) {
+        err = vaapi_encode_init_quality(avctx);
+        if (err < 0)
+            goto fail;
+    }
+
     vas = vaCreateConfig(ctx->hwctx->display,
                          ctx->va_profile, ctx->va_entrypoint,
                          ctx->config_attributes, ctx->nb_config_attributes,
@@ -1617,39 +1668,6 @@ av_cold int ff_vaapi_encode_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
             goto fail;
     }
 
-    if (avctx->compression_level >= 0) {
-#if VA_CHECK_VERSION(0, 36, 0)
-        VAConfigAttrib attr = { VAConfigAttribEncQualityRange };
-
-        vas = vaGetConfigAttributes(ctx->hwctx->display,
-                                    ctx->va_profile,
-                                    ctx->va_entrypoint,
-                                    &attr, 1);
-        if (vas != VA_STATUS_SUCCESS) {
-            av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_WARNING, "Failed to query quality "
-                   "attribute: will use default compression level.\n");
-        } else {
-            if (avctx->compression_level > attr.value) {
-                av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_WARNING, "Invalid compression "
-                       "level: valid range is 0-%d, using %d.\n",
-                       attr.value, attr.value);
-                avctx->compression_level = attr.value;
-            }
-
-            ctx->quality_params.misc.type =
-                VAEncMiscParameterTypeQualityLevel;
-            ctx->quality_params.quality.quality_level =
-                avctx->compression_level;
-
-            vaapi_encode_add_global_param(avctx, &ctx->quality_params.misc,
-                                          sizeof(ctx->quality_params));
-        }
-#else
-        av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_WARNING, "The encode compression level "
-               "option is not supported with this VAAPI version.\n");
-#endif
-    }
-
     ctx->input_order  = 0;
     ctx->output_delay = avctx->max_b_frames;
     ctx->decode_delay = 1;
diff --git a/libavcodec/vaapi_encode_h264.c b/libavcodec/vaapi_encode_h264.c
index 5ef72b222d..69e95dd340 100644
--- a/libavcodec/vaapi_encode_h264.c
+++ b/libavcodec/vaapi_encode_h264.c
@@ -831,9 +831,6 @@ static av_cold int vaapi_encode_h264_configure(AVCodecContext *avctx)
         av_assert0(0 && "Invalid RC mode.");
     }
 
-    if (avctx->compression_level == FF_COMPRESSION_DEFAULT)
-        avctx->compression_level = priv->quality;
-
     if (priv->sei & SEI_IDENTIFIER) {
         const char *lavc  = LIBAVCODEC_IDENT;
         const char *vaapi = VA_VERSION_S;
@@ -907,6 +904,8 @@ static av_cold int vaapi_encode_h264_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
         avctx->profile = priv->profile;
     if (avctx->level == FF_LEVEL_UNKNOWN)
         avctx->level = priv->level;
+    if (avctx->compression_level == FF_COMPRESSION_DEFAULT)
+        avctx->compression_level = priv->quality;
 
     // Reject unsupported profiles.
     switch (avctx->profile) {
@@ -972,7 +971,7 @@ static const AVOption vaapi_encode_h264_options[] = {
     { "qp", "Constant QP (for P-frames; scaled by qfactor/qoffset for I/B)",
       OFFSET(qp), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = 20 }, 0, 52, FLAGS },
     { "quality", "Set encode quality (trades off against speed, higher is faster)",
-      OFFSET(quality), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = 0 }, 0, 8, FLAGS },
+      OFFSET(quality), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = -1 }, -1, INT_MAX, FLAGS },
     { "coder", "Entropy coder type",
       OFFSET(coder), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = 1 }, 0, 1, FLAGS, "coder" },
         { "cavlc", NULL, 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = 0 }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, FLAGS, "coder" },