diff --git a/DOCS/man/en/vf.rst b/DOCS/man/en/vf.rst
index 4c1423f9d2..ab32cd6907 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/en/vf.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/en/vf.rst
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ Available filters are:
             Horizontal deblocking on luminance only, and switch vertical
             deblocking on or off automatically depending on available CPU time.
 
-``lavfi=graph[:sws_flags[:o=opts]]``
+``lavfi=graph[:sws-flags[:o=opts]]``
     Filter video using FFmpeg's libavfilter.
 
     ``<graph>``
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ Available filters are:
             ``'--vf=lavfi=graph="gradfun=radius=30:strength=20,vflip"'``
                 Same as before, but uses named parameters for everything.
 
-    ``<sws_flags>``
+    ``<sws-flags>``
         If libavfilter inserts filters for pixel format conversion, this
         option gives the flags which should be passed to libswscale. This
         option is numeric and takes a bit-wise combination of ``SWS_`` flags.
diff --git a/video/filter/vf_lavfi.c b/video/filter/vf_lavfi.c
index 74f32a9519..9e064f49d9 100644
--- a/video/filter/vf_lavfi.c
+++ b/video/filter/vf_lavfi.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
 #include <assert.h>
 
 #include <libavutil/avstring.h>
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@
 #include "video/sws_utils.h"
 #include "video/fmt-conversion.h"
 #include "vf.h"
+#include "vf_lavfi.h"
 
 #define IS_LIBAV_FORK (LIBAVFILTER_VERSION_MICRO < 100)
 
@@ -74,6 +76,10 @@ struct vf_priv_s {
     AVRational timebase_out;
     AVRational par_in;
 
+    // for the lw wrapper
+    void *old_priv;
+    void (*lw_recreate_cb)(struct vf_instance *vf);
+
     // options
     char *cfg_graph;
     int64_t cfg_sws_flags;
@@ -120,6 +126,9 @@ static bool recreate_graph(struct vf_instance *vf, int width, int height,
     struct vf_priv_s *p = vf->priv;
     AVFilterContext *in = NULL, *out = NULL, *f_format = NULL;
 
+    if (vf->priv->lw_recreate_cb)
+        vf->priv->lw_recreate_cb(vf);
+
     if (bstr0(p->cfg_graph).len == 0) {
         mp_msg(MSGT_VFILTER, MSGL_FATAL, "lavfi: no filter graph set\n");
         return false;
@@ -294,15 +303,20 @@ static int filter_ext(struct vf_instance *vf, struct mp_image *mpi)
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int control(vf_instance_t *vf, int request, void *data)
+static void reset(vf_instance_t *vf)
 {
     struct vf_priv_s *p = vf->priv;
+    if (p->graph) {
+        struct mp_image_params *f = &vf->fmt_in.params;
+        recreate_graph(vf, f->w, f->h, f->d_w, f->d_h, f->imgfmt);
+    }
+}
+
+static int control(vf_instance_t *vf, int request, void *data)
+{
     switch (request) {
     case VFCTRL_SEEK_RESET:
-        if (p->graph) {
-            struct mp_image_params *f = &vf->fmt_in.params;
-            recreate_graph(vf, f->w, f->h, f->d_w, f->d_h, f->imgfmt);
-        }
+        reset(vf);
         break;
     }
     return vf_next_control(vf, request, data);
@@ -317,8 +331,10 @@ static void uninit(struct vf_instance *vf)
 
 static int vf_open(vf_instance_t *vf, char *args)
 {
+    vf->reconfig = NULL;
     vf->config = config;
     vf->filter_ext = filter_ext;
+    vf->filter = NULL;
     vf->query_format = query_format;
     vf->control = control;
     vf->uninit = uninit;
@@ -367,7 +383,7 @@ static void print_help(void)
 #define OPT_BASE_STRUCT struct vf_priv_s
 static const m_option_t vf_opts_fields[] = {
     OPT_STRING("graph", cfg_graph, M_OPT_MIN, .min = 1),
-    OPT_INT64("sws_flags", cfg_sws_flags, 0),
+    OPT_INT64("sws-flags", cfg_sws_flags, 0),
     OPT_STRING("o", cfg_avopts, 0),
     {0}
 };
@@ -381,3 +397,93 @@ const vf_info_t vf_info_lavfi = {
     .options = vf_opts_fields,
     .print_help = print_help,
 };
+
+// The following code is for the old filters wrapper code.
+
+struct vf_lw_opts {
+    int enable;
+    int64_t sws_flags;
+    char *avopts;
+};
+
+#undef OPT_BASE_STRUCT
+#define OPT_BASE_STRUCT struct vf_lw_opts
+const struct m_sub_options vf_lw_conf = {
+    .opts = (const m_option_t[]) {
+        OPT_FLAG("lavfi", enable, 0),
+        OPT_INT64("lavfi-sws-flags", sws_flags, 0),
+        OPT_STRING("lavfi-o", avopts, 0),
+        {0}
+    },
+    .defaults = &(const struct vf_lw_opts){
+        .enable = 1,
+        .sws_flags = SWS_BICUBIC,
+    },
+    .size = sizeof(struct vf_lw_opts),
+};
+
+static bool have_filter(const char *name)
+{
+    for (const AVFilter *filter = avfilter_next(NULL); filter;
+         filter = avfilter_next(filter))
+    {
+        if (strcmp(filter->name, name) == 0)
+            return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+// This is used by "old" filters for wrapping lavfi if possible.
+// On success, this overwrites all vf callbacks and literally takes over the
+// old filter and replaces it with vf_lavfi.
+// On error (<0), nothing is changed.
+int vf_lw_set_graph(struct vf_instance *vf, struct vf_lw_opts *lavfi_opts,
+                    char *filter, char *opts, ...)
+{
+    if (!lavfi_opts)
+        lavfi_opts = (struct vf_lw_opts *)vf_lw_conf.defaults;
+    if (!lavfi_opts->enable || !have_filter(filter))
+        return -1;
+    mp_msg(MSGT_VFILTER, MSGL_V, "Using libavfilter for '%s'\n", vf->info->name);
+    void *old_priv = vf->priv;
+    struct vf_priv_s *p = talloc(vf, struct vf_priv_s);
+    vf->priv = p;
+    *p = vf_priv_dflt;
+    p->cfg_sws_flags = lavfi_opts->sws_flags;
+    p->cfg_avopts = lavfi_opts->avopts;
+    va_list ap;
+    va_start(ap, opts);
+    char *s = talloc_vasprintf(vf, opts, ap);
+    p->cfg_graph = talloc_asprintf(vf, "%s=%s", filter, s);
+    talloc_free(s);
+    va_end(ap);
+    p->old_priv = old_priv;
+    // Note: we should be sure vf_open really overwrites _all_ vf callbacks.
+    if (vf_open(vf, NULL) < 1)
+        abort();
+    return 1;
+}
+
+void *vf_lw_old_priv(struct vf_instance *vf)
+{
+    struct vf_priv_s *p = vf->priv;
+    return p->old_priv;
+}
+
+void vf_lw_update_graph(struct vf_instance *vf, char *filter, char *opts, ...)
+{
+    struct vf_priv_s *p = vf->priv;
+    va_list ap;
+    va_start(ap, opts);
+    char *s = talloc_vasprintf(vf, opts, ap);
+    talloc_free(p->cfg_graph);
+    p->cfg_graph = talloc_asprintf(vf, "%s=%s", filter, s);
+    talloc_free(s);
+    va_end(ap);
+}
+
+void vf_lw_set_recreate_cb(struct vf_instance *vf,
+                           void (*recreate)(struct vf_instance *vf))
+{
+    vf->priv->lw_recreate_cb = recreate;
+}
diff --git a/video/filter/vf_lavfi.h b/video/filter/vf_lavfi.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..45765d9dea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/video/filter/vf_lavfi.h
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#ifndef MP_VF_LAVFI_H_
+#define MP_VF_LAVFI_H_
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include "mpvcore/mp_common.h"
+#include "vf.h"
+
+struct vf_lw_opts;
+
+#if HAVE_VF_LAVFI
+
+extern const struct m_sub_options vf_lw_conf;
+
+int vf_lw_set_graph(struct vf_instance *vf, struct vf_lw_opts *lavfi_opts,
+                    char *filter, char *opts, ...) PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(4,5);
+void *vf_lw_old_priv(struct vf_instance *vf);
+void vf_lw_update_graph(struct vf_instance *vf, char *filter, char *opts, ...)
+                        PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(3,4);
+void vf_lw_set_recreate_cb(struct vf_instance *vf,
+                           void (*recreate)(struct vf_instance *vf));
+#else
+static inline
+int vf_lw_set_graph(struct vf_instance *vf, struct vf_lw_opts *lavfi_opts,
+                    char *filter, char *opts, ...)
+{
+    return -1;
+}
+static void *vf_lw_old_priv(struct vf_instance *vf)
+{
+    return 0;
+}
+static void vf_lw_update_graph(struct vf_instance *vf, char *filter, char *opts, ...)
+{
+}
+static void vf_lw_set_recreate_cb(struct vf_instance *vf,
+                                  void (*recreate)(struct vf_instance *vf))
+{
+}
+#include "mpvcore/m_option.h"
+static const struct m_sub_options vf_lw_conf = {0};
+#endif
+
+#endif