diff --git a/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1 b/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
index 5a243f8ff9..14473481e1 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
+++ b/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
@@ -1101,6 +1101,18 @@ When used with MEncoder, this is not guaranteed to work correctly
 with \-ovc copy; use \-audio-delay instead.
 .
 .TP
+.B \-ignore-start
+Ignore the specified starting time for streams in AVI files.
+In MPlayer, this nullifies stream delays in files encoded with
+the \-audio-delay option.
+During encoding, this option prevents MEncoder from transferring
+original stream start times to the new file; the \-audio-delay option is
+not affected.
+Note that MEncoder sometimes adjusts stream starting times
+automatically to compensate for anticipated decoding delays, so don't
+use this option for encoding without testing it first.
+.
+.TP
 .B \-demuxer <[+]name>
 Force demuxer type.
 Use a '+' before the name to force it, this will skip some checks!
diff --git a/cfg-common.h b/cfg-common.h
index 599b5aabb5..ad78a98ba8 100644
--- a/cfg-common.h
+++ b/cfg-common.h
@@ -150,6 +150,10 @@
 	// set a-v distance
 	{"delay", &audio_delay, CONF_TYPE_FLOAT, CONF_RANGE, -100.0, 100.0, NULL},
 
+	// ignore header-specified delay (dwStart)
+	{"ignore-start", &ignore_start, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, 0, 0, 1, NULL},
+	{"noignore-start", &ignore_start, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, 0, 1, 0, NULL},
+
 #ifdef USE_LIBA52
         {"a52drc", &a52_drc_level, CONF_TYPE_FLOAT, CONF_RANGE, 0, 1, NULL},
 #endif
diff --git a/mencoder.c b/mencoder.c
index 167f5567a2..fb5e9fb489 100644
--- a/mencoder.c
+++ b/mencoder.c
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ static float c_total=0;
 static float audio_preload=0.5;
 static float audio_delay_fix=0.0;
 static float audio_delay=0.0;
+static int ignore_start=0;
 static int audio_density=2;
 
 float force_fps=0;
@@ -866,6 +867,7 @@ if ((force_fourcc != NULL) && (strlen(force_fourcc) >= 4))
 	mux_v->bih->biCompression, (char *)&mux_v->bih->biCompression);
 }
 
+if (! ignore_start)
     muxer->audio_delay_fix -= sh_video->stream_delay;
 
 //if(demuxer->file_format!=DEMUXER_TYPE_AVI) pts_from_bps=0; // it must be 0 for mpeg/asf!
@@ -961,6 +963,7 @@ case ACODEC_COPY:
 
 if (verbose>1) print_wave_header(mux_a->wf);
 
+if (! ignore_start)
     muxer->audio_delay_fix += sh_audio->stream_delay;
 
 } // if(sh_audio)
diff --git a/mplayer.c b/mplayer.c
index a39f7fa072..b2bbe45d03 100644
--- a/mplayer.c
+++ b/mplayer.c
@@ -294,6 +294,7 @@ static float default_max_pts_correction=-1;//0.01f;
 static float max_pts_correction=0;//default_max_pts_correction;
 static float c_total=0;
        float audio_delay=0;
+static int ignore_start=0;
 
 static int softsleep=0;
 
@@ -2524,9 +2525,11 @@ current_module="av_init";
 
 if(sh_video){
   sh_video->timer=0;
+  if (! ignore_start)
     audio_delay += sh_video->stream_delay;
 }
 if(sh_audio){
+  if (! ignore_start)
     audio_delay -= sh_audio->stream_delay;
   sh_audio->delay=-audio_delay;
 }