diff --git a/DOCS/en/faq.html b/DOCS/en/faq.html
index de6d844f3b..7916ef57c8 100644
--- a/DOCS/en/faq.html
+++ b/DOCS/en/faq.html
@@ -414,7 +414,8 @@
   <DT>Q: I cannot pinpoint the cause of some strange playback problem.</DT>
   <DD>A: Do you have a stray <CODE>codecs.conf</CODE> file in
     <CODE>~/.mplayer/</CODE>, <CODE>/etc/</CODE>, <CODE>/usr/local/etc/</CODE>
-    or a similar location? Remove it.</DD>
+    or a similar location? Remove it, outdated <CODE>codecs.conf</CODE> files
+    can cause obscure problems. MPlayer will use its builtin one instead.</DD>
   <DD>&nbsp;</DD>
 
   <DT>Q: ... works with xine/avifile/... but doesn't with MPlayer.</DT>
diff --git a/DOCS/xml/en/faq.xml b/DOCS/xml/en/faq.xml
index 444755d5b4..3663ffa3eb 100644
--- a/DOCS/xml/en/faq.xml
+++ b/DOCS/xml/en/faq.xml
@@ -588,7 +588,9 @@ I cannot pinpoint the cause of some strange playback problem.
 <answer><para>
 Do you have a stray <filename>codecs.conf</filename> file in
 <filename>~/.mplayer/</filename>, <filename>/etc/</filename>,
-<filename>/usr/local/etc/</filename> or a similar location? Remove it.
+<filename>/usr/local/etc/</filename> or a similar location? Remove it,
+outdated <filename>codecs.conf</filename> files can cause obscure
+problems. MPlayer will use its builtin one instead.
 </para></answer>
 </qandaentry>