diff --git a/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1 b/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
index e2df09d996..d118f43ae4 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
+++ b/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1
@@ -754,6 +754,10 @@ Using realtime priority can cause system lockup.
 .RE
 .
 .TP
+.B \-codecpath <dir>
+Specify a directory for binary codecs.
+.
+.TP
 .B \-profile <profile1,profile2,...>
 Use the given profile(s), \-profile help displays a list of the defined profiles.
 .
diff --git a/cfg-common-opts.h b/cfg-common-opts.h
index 1bdbca4735..7c85e8885a 100644
--- a/cfg-common-opts.h
+++ b/cfg-common-opts.h
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@
 	{"include", cfg_include, CONF_TYPE_FUNC_PARAM, CONF_NOSAVE, 0, 0, NULL},
 #ifdef CONFIG_PRIORITY
 	{"priority", &proc_priority, CONF_TYPE_STRING, 0, 0, 0, NULL},
+#endif
+#ifdef CONFIG_WIN32DLL
+	{"codecpath", &codec_path, CONF_TYPE_STRING, 0, 0, 0, NULL},
 #endif
 	{"noconfig", noconfig_opts, CONF_TYPE_SUBCONFIG, CONF_GLOBAL|CONF_NOCFG|CONF_PRE_PARSE, 0, 0, NULL},
 
diff --git a/get_path.h b/get_path.h
index 2f1909b601..759356e527 100644
--- a/get_path.h
+++ b/get_path.h
@@ -24,4 +24,10 @@
 char *get_path(const char *filename);
 void set_path_env(void);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_WIN32DLL
+extern void SetCodecPath(const char *);   // in loader/drv.c
+
+static char *codec_path=NULL;
+#endif
+
 #endif /* MPLAYER_GET_PATH_H */
diff --git a/mencoder.c b/mencoder.c
index 7b9f5705eb..12467cccfc 100644
--- a/mencoder.c
+++ b/mencoder.c
@@ -534,6 +534,11 @@ if (frameno_filename) {
   set_priority();
 #endif
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_WIN32DLL
+  if (codec_path)
+    SetCodecPath(codec_path);
+#endif
+
 // check font
 #ifdef CONFIG_FREETYPE
   init_freetype();
diff --git a/mplayer.c b/mplayer.c
index a5fe132d0a..77400a0ed0 100644
--- a/mplayer.c
+++ b/mplayer.c
@@ -2701,6 +2701,11 @@ int gui_no_filename=0;
     set_priority();
 #endif
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_WIN32DLL
+  if (codec_path)
+    SetCodecPath(codec_path);
+#endif
+
 #ifndef CONFIG_GUI
     if(use_gui){
       mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER,MSGL_WARN,MSGTR_NoGui);