diff --git a/doc/ffmpeg.texi b/doc/ffmpeg.texi
index 96b3257e79..95d6463685 100644
--- a/doc/ffmpeg.texi
+++ b/doc/ffmpeg.texi
@@ -1746,6 +1746,11 @@ this buffer, in packets, for the matching output stream.
 The default value of this option should be high enough for most uses, so only
 touch this option if you are sure that you need it.
 
+@item -muxing_queue_data_threshold @var{bytes} (@emph{output,per-stream})
+This is a minimum threshold until which the muxing queue size is not taken into
+account. Defaults to 50 megabytes per stream, and is based on the overall size
+of packets passed to the muxer.
+
 @item -auto_conversion_filters (@emph{global})
 Enable automatically inserting format conversion filters in all filter
 graphs, including those defined by @option{-vf}, @option{-af},
diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg.c b/fftools/ffmpeg.c
index cb7644de6a..3af189e7f2 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg.c
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg.c
@@ -725,8 +725,13 @@ static void write_packet(OutputFile *of, AVPacket *pkt, OutputStream *ost, int u
         AVPacket tmp_pkt = {0};
         /* the muxer is not initialized yet, buffer the packet */
         if (!av_fifo_space(ost->muxing_queue)) {
-            int new_size = FFMIN(2 * av_fifo_size(ost->muxing_queue),
-                                 ost->max_muxing_queue_size);
+            unsigned int are_we_over_size =
+                (ost->muxing_queue_data_size + pkt->size) > ost->muxing_queue_data_threshold;
+            int new_size = are_we_over_size ?
+                           FFMIN(2 * av_fifo_size(ost->muxing_queue),
+                                 ost->max_muxing_queue_size) :
+                           2 * av_fifo_size(ost->muxing_queue);
+
             if (new_size <= av_fifo_size(ost->muxing_queue)) {
                 av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR,
                        "Too many packets buffered for output stream %d:%d.\n",
@@ -741,6 +746,7 @@ static void write_packet(OutputFile *of, AVPacket *pkt, OutputStream *ost, int u
         if (ret < 0)
             exit_program(1);
         av_packet_move_ref(&tmp_pkt, pkt);
+        ost->muxing_queue_data_size += tmp_pkt.size;
         av_fifo_generic_write(ost->muxing_queue, &tmp_pkt, sizeof(tmp_pkt), NULL);
         return;
     }
@@ -2991,6 +2997,7 @@ static int check_init_output_file(OutputFile *of, int file_index)
         while (av_fifo_size(ost->muxing_queue)) {
             AVPacket pkt;
             av_fifo_generic_read(ost->muxing_queue, &pkt, sizeof(pkt), NULL);
+            ost->muxing_queue_data_size -= pkt.size;
             write_packet(of, &pkt, ost, 1);
         }
     }
diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg.h b/fftools/ffmpeg.h
index 8665218dcf..3b54dab7fc 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg.h
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg.h
@@ -215,6 +215,8 @@ typedef struct OptionsContext {
     int        nb_passlogfiles;
     SpecifierOpt *max_muxing_queue_size;
     int        nb_max_muxing_queue_size;
+    SpecifierOpt *muxing_queue_data_threshold;
+    int        nb_muxing_queue_data_threshold;
     SpecifierOpt *guess_layout_max;
     int        nb_guess_layout_max;
     SpecifierOpt *apad;
@@ -547,6 +549,15 @@ typedef struct OutputStream {
     /* the packets are buffered here until the muxer is ready to be initialized */
     AVFifoBuffer *muxing_queue;
 
+    /*
+     * The size of the AVPackets' buffers in queue.
+     * Updated when a packet is either pushed or pulled from the queue.
+     */
+    size_t muxing_queue_data_size;
+
+    /* Threshold after which max_muxing_queue_size will be in effect */
+    size_t muxing_queue_data_threshold;
+
     /* packet picture type */
     int pict_type;
 
diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c b/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c
index d58462b6ae..7ee034c9c9 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ static const char *opt_name_canvas_sizes[]              = {"canvas_size", NULL};
 static const char *opt_name_pass[]                      = {"pass", NULL};
 static const char *opt_name_passlogfiles[]              = {"passlogfile", NULL};
 static const char *opt_name_max_muxing_queue_size[]     = {"max_muxing_queue_size", NULL};
+static const char *opt_name_muxing_queue_data_threshold[] = {"muxing_queue_data_threshold", NULL};
 static const char *opt_name_guess_layout_max[]          = {"guess_layout_max", NULL};
 static const char *opt_name_apad[]                      = {"apad", NULL};
 static const char *opt_name_discard[]                   = {"discard", NULL};
@@ -1564,6 +1565,11 @@ static OutputStream *new_output_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc, e
     MATCH_PER_STREAM_OPT(max_muxing_queue_size, i, ost->max_muxing_queue_size, oc, st);
     ost->max_muxing_queue_size *= sizeof(AVPacket);
 
+    ost->muxing_queue_data_size = 0;
+
+    ost->muxing_queue_data_threshold = 50*1024*1024;
+    MATCH_PER_STREAM_OPT(muxing_queue_data_threshold, i, ost->muxing_queue_data_threshold, oc, st);
+
     if (oc->oformat->flags & AVFMT_GLOBALHEADER)
         ost->enc_ctx->flags |= AV_CODEC_FLAG_GLOBAL_HEADER;
 
@@ -3761,6 +3767,8 @@ const OptionDef options[] = {
 
     { "max_muxing_queue_size", HAS_ARG | OPT_INT | OPT_SPEC | OPT_EXPERT | OPT_OUTPUT, { .off = OFFSET(max_muxing_queue_size) },
         "maximum number of packets that can be buffered while waiting for all streams to initialize", "packets" },
+    { "muxing_queue_data_threshold", HAS_ARG | OPT_INT | OPT_SPEC | OPT_EXPERT | OPT_OUTPUT, { .off = OFFSET(muxing_queue_data_threshold) },
+        "set the threshold after which max_muxing_queue_size is taken into account", "bytes" },
 
     /* data codec support */
     { "dcodec", HAS_ARG | OPT_DATA | OPT_PERFILE | OPT_EXPERT | OPT_INPUT | OPT_OUTPUT, { .func_arg = opt_data_codec },