diff --git a/avconv.c b/avconv.c
index 75a8f0d5ec..900f49afe7 100644
--- a/avconv.c
+++ b/avconv.c
@@ -404,6 +404,7 @@ static void do_audio_out(AVFormatContext *s, OutputStream *ost,
     }
 }
 
+#if FF_API_DEINTERLACE
 static void pre_process_video_frame(InputStream *ist, AVPicture *picture, void **bufp)
 {
     AVCodecContext *dec;
@@ -442,6 +443,7 @@ static void pre_process_video_frame(InputStream *ist, AVPicture *picture, void *
         *picture = *picture2;
     *bufp = buf;
 }
+#endif
 
 static void do_subtitle_out(AVFormatContext *s,
                             OutputStream *ost,
@@ -1181,7 +1183,9 @@ static int decode_video(InputStream *ist, AVPacket *pkt, int *got_output)
     decoded_frame->pts = guess_correct_pts(&ist->pts_ctx, decoded_frame->pkt_pts,
                                            decoded_frame->pkt_dts);
     pkt->size = 0;
+#if FF_API_DEINTERLACE
     pre_process_video_frame(ist, (AVPicture *)decoded_frame, &buffer_to_free);
+#endif
 
     rate_emu_sleep(ist);
 
diff --git a/avconv_opt.c b/avconv_opt.c
index 7c58f49e3b..5bb7fb75f5 100644
--- a/avconv_opt.c
+++ b/avconv_opt.c
@@ -1715,12 +1715,14 @@ static int opt_vsync(void *optctx, const char *opt, const char *arg)
     return 0;
 }
 
+#if FF_API_DEINTERLACE
 static int opt_deinterlace(void *optctx, const char *opt, const char *arg)
 {
     av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_WARNING, "-%s is deprecated, use -filter:v yadif instead\n", opt);
     do_deinterlace = 1;
     return 0;
 }
+#endif
 
 int opt_cpuflags(void *optctx, const char *opt, const char *arg)
 {
@@ -2057,8 +2059,10 @@ const OptionDef options[] = {
         "select the pass number (1 or 2)", "n" },
     { "passlogfile",  OPT_VIDEO | HAS_ARG | OPT_STRING | OPT_EXPERT | OPT_SPEC,  { .off = OFFSET(passlogfiles) },
         "select two pass log file name prefix", "prefix" },
+#if FF_API_DEINTERLACE
     { "deinterlace",  OPT_VIDEO | OPT_EXPERT ,                                   { .func_arg = opt_deinterlace },
         "this option is deprecated, use the yadif filter instead" },
+#endif
     { "vstats",       OPT_VIDEO | OPT_EXPERT ,                                   { &opt_vstats },
         "dump video coding statistics to file" },
     { "vstats_file",  OPT_VIDEO | HAS_ARG | OPT_EXPERT ,                         { opt_vstats_file },
diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index 7a2477516d..120bfbcaae 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -4267,11 +4267,16 @@ int avpicture_layout(const AVPicture* src, enum AVPixelFormat pix_fmt,
  */
 int avpicture_get_size(enum AVPixelFormat pix_fmt, int width, int height);
 
+#if FF_API_DEINTERLACE
 /**
  *  deinterlace - if not supported return -1
+ *
+ * @deprecated - use yadif (in libavfilter) instead
  */
+attribute_deprecated
 int avpicture_deinterlace(AVPicture *dst, const AVPicture *src,
                           enum AVPixelFormat pix_fmt, int width, int height);
+#endif
 /**
  * Copy image src to dst. Wraps av_picture_data_copy() above.
  */
diff --git a/libavcodec/imgconvert.c b/libavcodec/imgconvert.c
index 36c24dfa88..8f8b6e3914 100644
--- a/libavcodec/imgconvert.c
+++ b/libavcodec/imgconvert.c
@@ -366,6 +366,8 @@ int av_picture_pad(AVPicture *dst, const AVPicture *src, int height, int width,
     return 0;
 }
 
+#if FF_API_DEINTERLACE
+
 #if !HAVE_MMX_EXTERNAL
 /* filter parameters: [-1 4 2 4 -1] // 8 */
 static void deinterlace_line_c(uint8_t *dst,
@@ -524,3 +526,5 @@ int avpicture_deinterlace(AVPicture *dst, const AVPicture *src,
     emms_c();
     return 0;
 }
+
+#endif /* FF_API_DEINTERLACE */
diff --git a/libavcodec/version.h b/libavcodec/version.h
index 7a024d38a1..5b65c2d6a0 100644
--- a/libavcodec/version.h
+++ b/libavcodec/version.h
@@ -97,5 +97,8 @@
 #ifndef FF_API_IDCT
 #define FF_API_IDCT              (LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR < 55)
 #endif
+#ifndef FF_API_DEINTERLACE
+#define FF_API_DEINTERLACE       (LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR < 56)
+#endif
 
 #endif /* AVCODEC_VERSION_H */