diff --git a/doc/APIchanges b/doc/APIchanges
index 3a5e5b646d..953a38d693 100644
--- a/doc/APIchanges
+++ b/doc/APIchanges
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ API changes, most recent first:
 
 2013-11-xx - xxxxxxx - lavc 55.26.0 - vdpau.h
   Add av_vdpau_get_profile().
+  Add av_vdpau_alloc_context(). This function must from now on be
+  used for allocating AVVDPAUContext.
 
 2013-11-xx - xxxxxxx - lavc 55.41.100 / 55.25.0 - avcodec.h
                        lavu 52.51.100 - frame.h
diff --git a/libavcodec/vdpau.c b/libavcodec/vdpau.c
index b848174f90..0eebb9cdc1 100644
--- a/libavcodec/vdpau.c
+++ b/libavcodec/vdpau.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 
 AVVDPAUContext *av_alloc_vdpaucontext(void)
 {
-    return av_mallocz(sizeof(AVVDPAUContext));
+    return av_vdpau_alloc_context();
 }
 
 MAKE_ACCESSORS(AVVDPAUContext, vdpau_hwaccel, AVVDPAU_Render2, render2)
@@ -481,4 +481,9 @@ do {                        \
     return AVERROR(EINVAL);
 }
 
+AVVDPAUContext *av_vdpau_alloc_context(void)
+{
+    return av_mallocz(sizeof(AVVDPAUContext));
+}
+
 /* @}*/
diff --git a/libavcodec/vdpau.h b/libavcodec/vdpau.h
index b84bdeaeba..e25cc42d7e 100644
--- a/libavcodec/vdpau.h
+++ b/libavcodec/vdpau.h
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ typedef int (*AVVDPAU_Render2)(struct AVCodecContext *, struct AVFrame *,
  * during initialization or through each AVCodecContext.get_buffer()
  * function call. In any case, they must be valid prior to calling
  * decoding functions.
+ *
+ * The size of this structure is not a part of the public ABI and must not
+ * be used outside of libavcodec. Use av_vdpau_alloc_context() to allocate an
+ * AVVDPAUContext.
  */
 typedef struct AVVDPAUContext {
     /**
@@ -145,6 +149,13 @@ AVVDPAUContext *av_alloc_vdpaucontext(void);
 AVVDPAU_Render2 av_vdpau_hwaccel_get_render2(const AVVDPAUContext *);
 void av_vdpau_hwaccel_set_render2(AVVDPAUContext *, AVVDPAU_Render2);
 
+/**
+ * Allocate an AVVDPAUContext.
+ *
+ * @return Newly-allocated AVVDPAUContext or NULL on failure.
+ */
+AVVDPAUContext *av_vdpau_alloc_context(void);
+
 /**
  * Get a decoder profile that should be used for initializing a VDPAU decoder.
  * Should be called from the AVCodecContext.get_format() callback.