diff --git a/libmpcodecs/vd_ffmpeg.c b/libmpcodecs/vd_ffmpeg.c
index d56a63ea59..2424dda95b 100644
--- a/libmpcodecs/vd_ffmpeg.c
+++ b/libmpcodecs/vd_ffmpeg.c
@@ -379,8 +379,10 @@ static int init(sh_video_t *sh){
     if(sh->bih)
         avctx->bits_per_coded_sample= sh->bih->biBitCount;
 
-    if(lavc_param->threads > 1)
+    if(lavc_param->threads > 1) {
+        avctx->thread_count = lavc_param->threads;
         avcodec_thread_init(avctx, lavc_param->threads);
+    }
     /* open it */
     if (avcodec_open(avctx, lavc_codec) < 0) {
         mp_tmsg(MSGT_DECVIDEO, MSGL_ERR, "Could not open codec.\n");