diff --git a/audio/mixer.c b/audio/mixer.c
index bdcb0cbc5c..d97391cf7e 100644
--- a/audio/mixer.c
+++ b/audio/mixer.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ static void checkvolume(struct mixer *mixer)
 
     if (mixer->softvol == SOFTVOL_AUTO) {
         mixer->softvol = mixer->ao->per_application_mixer
+                         || mixer->ao->no_persistent_volume
                          ? SOFTVOL_NO : SOFTVOL_YES;
     }
 
diff --git a/audio/out/ao.h b/audio/out/ao.h
index 6ea1b22cd2..2fb8d9ba2c 100644
--- a/audio/out/ao.h
+++ b/audio/out/ao.h
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ struct ao {
     bool probing;
     bool initialized;
     bool untimed;
-    bool no_persistent_volume;
-    bool per_application_mixer;
+    bool no_persistent_volume;  // the AO does the equivalent of af_volume
+    bool per_application_mixer; // like above, but volume persists (per app)
     const struct ao_driver *driver;
     void *priv;
     struct encode_lavc_context *encode_lavc_ctx;