diff --git a/doc/muxers.texi b/doc/muxers.texi
index e6e72e4a76..61e1c03dbc 100644
--- a/doc/muxers.texi
+++ b/doc/muxers.texi
@@ -466,8 +466,9 @@ time.
 
 The segment muxer works best with a single constant frame rate video.
 
-Optionally it can generate a flat list of the created segments, one segment
-per line, by setting the option @var{segment_list}.
+Optionally it can generate a list of the created segments, by setting
+the option @var{segment_list}. The list type is specified by the
+@var{segment_list_type} option.
 
 The segment muxer supports the following options:
 
@@ -503,12 +504,15 @@ muxer according to the provided pattern, and should not contain the
 @var{segment_start_time} and @var{segment_end_time} specify
 the segment start and end time expressed in seconds.
 
+A list file with the suffix @code{".ext"} will auto-select this format.
 @item m3u8
 Generate an extended M3U8 file, version 4, compliant with
 @url{http://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-08.txt}.
+
+A list file with the suffix @code{".m3u8"} will auto-select this format.
 @end table
 
-Default value is "flat".
+If not specified the type is guessed from the list file name suffix.
 @item segment_time @var{time}
 Set segment duration to @var{time}. Default value is "2".
 @item segment_time_delta @var{delta}
diff --git a/libavformat/segment.c b/libavformat/segment.c
index 2b1ad0ece8..bb92fc235d 100644
--- a/libavformat/segment.c
+++ b/libavformat/segment.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 #include "libavutil/mathematics.h"
 
 typedef enum {
+    LIST_TYPE_UNDEFINED = -1,
     LIST_TYPE_FLAT = 0,
     LIST_TYPE_EXT,
     LIST_TYPE_M3U8,
@@ -282,9 +283,15 @@ static int seg_write_header(AVFormatContext *s)
     if (!oc)
         return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
 
-    if (seg->list)
+    if (seg->list) {
+        if (seg->list_type == LIST_TYPE_UNDEFINED) {
+            if      (av_match_ext(seg->list, "ext" )) seg->list_type = LIST_TYPE_EXT;
+            else if (av_match_ext(seg->list, "m3u8")) seg->list_type = LIST_TYPE_M3U8;
+            else                                      seg->list_type = LIST_TYPE_FLAT;
+        }
         if ((ret = segment_list_open(s)) < 0)
             goto fail;
+    }
 
     for (i = 0; i< s->nb_streams; i++)
         seg->has_video +=
@@ -411,7 +418,7 @@ static const AVOption options[] = {
     { "segment_format",    "set container format used for the segments", OFFSET(format),  AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, {.str = NULL},  0, 0,       E },
     { "segment_list",      "set the segment list filename",              OFFSET(list),    AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, {.str = NULL},  0, 0,       E },
     { "segment_list_size", "set the maximum number of playlist entries", OFFSET(list_size), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT,  {.dbl = 5},     0, INT_MAX, E },
-    { "segment_list_type", "set the segment list type",                  OFFSET(list_type), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT,  {.dbl = LIST_TYPE_FLAT}, 0, LIST_TYPE_NB-1, E, "list_type" },
+    { "segment_list_type", "set the segment list type",                  OFFSET(list_type), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT,  {.dbl = LIST_TYPE_UNDEFINED}, -1, LIST_TYPE_NB-1, E, "list_type" },
     { "flat", "flat format",     0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl=LIST_TYPE_FLAT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, 0, "list_type" },
     { "ext",  "extended format", 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl=LIST_TYPE_EXT  }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, 0, "list_type" },
     { "m3u8", "M3U8 format",     0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl=LIST_TYPE_M3U8 }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, 0, "list_type" },
diff --git a/libavformat/version.h b/libavformat/version.h
index a67c9c2146..ca0313586b 100644
--- a/libavformat/version.h
+++ b/libavformat/version.h
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 #define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR 54
 #define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MINOR 25
-#define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MICRO 102
+#define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MICRO 103
 
 #define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_INT AV_VERSION_INT(LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR, \
                                                LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MINOR, \