diff --git a/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1 b/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
index 776f2ec149..d274237d11 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
+++ b/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
@@ -1703,7 +1703,7 @@ You may also want to use \-embeddedfonts.
 .TP
 .B \-ass-bottom-margin <value>
 Adds a black band at the bottom of the frame.
-The SSA/ASS renderer will place subtitles there.
+The SSA/ASS renderer can place subtitles there (with -ass-use-margins).
 .
 .TP
 .B \-ass-font-scale <value>
@@ -1727,7 +1727,12 @@ Set line spacing value for SSA/ASS renderer.
 .TP
 .B \-ass-top-margin <value>
 Adds a black band at the top of the frame.
-The SSA/ASS renderer will place toptitles there.
+The SSA/ASS renderer can place toptitles there (with -ass-use-margins).
+.
+.TP
+.B \-(no)ass-use-margins
+Enables/disables placing toptitles and subtitles in black borders when they
+are available (default: no).
 .
 .TP
 .B \-dumpjacosub (MPlayer only)
diff --git a/cfg-common.h b/cfg-common.h
index a8bc5facf5..8d2291b2fa 100644
--- a/cfg-common.h
+++ b/cfg-common.h
@@ -303,6 +303,8 @@
 	{"ass-line-spacing", &ass_line_spacing, CONF_TYPE_FLOAT, CONF_RANGE, -1000, 1000, NULL},
 	{"ass-top-margin", &ass_top_margin, CONF_TYPE_INT, CONF_RANGE, 0, 2000, NULL},
 	{"ass-bottom-margin", &ass_bottom_margin, CONF_TYPE_INT, CONF_RANGE, 0, 2000, NULL},
+	{"ass-use-margins", &ass_use_margins, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, 0, 0, 1, NULL},
+	{"noass-use-margins", &ass_use_margins, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, 0, 1, 0, NULL},
 	{"embeddedfonts", &extract_embedded_fonts, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, 0, 0, 1, NULL},
 	{"noembeddedfonts", &extract_embedded_fonts, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, 0, 1, 0, NULL},
 	{"ass-force-style", &ass_force_style_list, CONF_TYPE_STRING_LIST, 0, 0, 0, NULL},
diff --git a/libass/ass_mp.c b/libass/ass_mp.c
index 3df5a97534..52cd8c3d1d 100644
--- a/libass/ass_mp.c
+++ b/libass/ass_mp.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ int ass_top_margin = 0;
 int ass_bottom_margin = 0;
 int extract_embedded_fonts = 0;
 char **ass_force_style_list = NULL;
+int ass_use_margins = 0;
 
 extern int font_fontconfig;
 extern char* font_name;
diff --git a/libass/ass_mp.h b/libass/ass_mp.h
index be4e6f724b..deaa7befcf 100644
--- a/libass/ass_mp.h
+++ b/libass/ass_mp.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ extern int ass_top_margin;
 extern int ass_bottom_margin;
 extern int extract_embedded_fonts;
 extern char **ass_force_style_list;
+extern int ass_use_margins;
 
 ass_track_t* ass_read_subdata(sub_data* subdata, double fps);
 
diff --git a/libmpcodecs/vf_ass.c b/libmpcodecs/vf_ass.c
index 131f7324de..f61b3aab32 100644
--- a/libmpcodecs/vf_ass.c
+++ b/libmpcodecs/vf_ass.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ static int config(struct vf_instance_s* vf,
 		settings.line_spacing = ass_line_spacing;
 		settings.top_margin = ass_top_margin;
 		settings.bottom_margin = ass_bottom_margin;
+		settings.use_margins = ass_use_margins;
 		settings.aspect = ((double)d_width) / d_height;
 		
 		ass_configure(vf->priv->ass_priv, &settings);