diff --git a/libavformat/avformat.h b/libavformat/avformat.h
index a8e3a7d766..50e4f5c69d 100644
--- a/libavformat/avformat.h
+++ b/libavformat/avformat.h
@@ -729,6 +729,11 @@ typedef struct AVStream {
 
     int pts_wrap_bits; /**< number of bits in pts (used for wrapping control) */
 
+#if FF_API_REFERENCE_DTS
+    /* a hack to keep ABI compatibility for avconv, which accesses parser even
+     * though it should not */
+    int64_t do_not_use;
+#endif
     // Timestamp generation support:
     int64_t first_dts;
     int64_t cur_dts;
diff --git a/libavformat/version.h b/libavformat/version.h
index 43431a56f4..791933f307 100644
--- a/libavformat/version.h
+++ b/libavformat/version.h
@@ -48,5 +48,8 @@
  * dropped at a future version bump. The defines themselves are not part of
  * the public API and may change, break or disappear at any time.
  */
+#ifndef FF_API_REFERENCE_DTS
+#define FF_API_REFERENCE_DTS            (LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR < 56)
+#endif
 
 #endif /* AVFORMAT_VERSION_H */