diff --git a/Changelog b/Changelog
index 56f3a29d83..6260d0ca3d 100644
--- a/Changelog
+++ b/Changelog
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ version <next>:
 - ported lenscorrection filter from frei0r filter
 - large optimizations in dctdnoiz to make it usable
 - request icecast metadata by default
+- support for using metadata in stream specifiers in fftools
 
 
 version 2.3:
diff --git a/doc/ffmpeg.texi b/doc/ffmpeg.texi
index f741a053f5..158f4ed6cc 100644
--- a/doc/ffmpeg.texi
+++ b/doc/ffmpeg.texi
@@ -821,6 +821,11 @@ To map all the streams except the second audio, use negative mappings
 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -map -0:a:1 OUTPUT
 @end example
 
+To pick the English audio stream:
+@example
+avconv -i INPUT -map 0:m:language:eng OUTPUT
+@end example
+
 Note that using this option disables the default mappings for this output file.
 
 @item -map_channel [@var{input_file_id}.@var{stream_specifier}.@var{channel_id}|-1][:@var{output_file_id}.@var{stream_specifier}]
diff --git a/doc/fftools-common-opts.texi b/doc/fftools-common-opts.texi
index ab627ca4a9..6ee6292c5f 100644
--- a/doc/fftools-common-opts.texi
+++ b/doc/fftools-common-opts.texi
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ in the program with the id @var{program_id}. Otherwise, it matches all streams i
 program.
 @item #@var{stream_id} or i:@var{stream_id}
 Match the stream by stream id (e.g. PID in MPEG-TS container).
+@item m:@var{key}[:@var{value}]
+Matches streams with the metadata tag @var{key} having the specified value. If
+@var{value} is not given, matches streams that contain the given tag with any
+value.
+
+Note that in @command{avconv}, matching by metadata will only work properly for
+input files.
 @end table
 
 @section Generic options
diff --git a/libavformat/utils.c b/libavformat/utils.c
index 13d4c6b1ee..5bb56428f0 100644
--- a/libavformat/utils.c
+++ b/libavformat/utils.c
@@ -4216,6 +4216,29 @@ int avformat_match_stream_specifier(AVFormatContext *s, AVStream *st,
         stream_id = strtol(spec, &endptr, 0);
         if (!*endptr)
             return stream_id == st->id;
+    } else if (*spec == 'm' && *(spec + 1) == ':') {
+        AVDictionaryEntry *tag;
+        char *key, *val;
+        int ret;
+
+        spec += 2;
+        val = strchr(spec, ':');
+
+        key = val ? av_strndup(spec, val - spec) : av_strdup(spec);
+        if (!key)
+            return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
+
+        tag = av_dict_get(st->metadata, key, NULL, 0);
+        if (tag) {
+            if (!val || !strcmp(tag->value, val + 1))
+                ret = 1;
+            else
+                ret = 0;
+        } else
+            ret = 0;
+
+        av_freep(&key);
+        return ret;
     } else if (!*spec) /* empty specifier, matches everything */
         return 1;