diff --git a/libao2/ao_alsa1x.c b/libao2/ao_alsa1x.c
index 0f35f2e819..f95d21a84b 100644
--- a/libao2/ao_alsa1x.c
+++ b/libao2/ao_alsa1x.c
@@ -125,9 +125,15 @@ static int init(int rate_hz, int channels, int format, int flags)
 	case AFMT_U16_BE:
 	    alsa_format = SND_PCM_FORMAT_U16_BE;
 	    break;
+#ifndef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case AFMT_S16_LE:
 	    alsa_format = SND_PCM_FORMAT_S16_LE;
 	    break;
+#ifdef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case AFMT_S16_BE:
 	    alsa_format = SND_PCM_FORMAT_S16_BE;
 	    break;
diff --git a/libao2/ao_alsa5.c b/libao2/ao_alsa5.c
index 211bf6a7c2..13653306fb 100644
--- a/libao2/ao_alsa5.c
+++ b/libao2/ao_alsa5.c
@@ -87,9 +87,15 @@ static int init(int rate_hz, int channels, int format, int flags)
 	case AFMT_U16_BE:
 	    alsa_format.format = SND_PCM_SFMT_U16_BE;
 	    break;
+#ifndef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case AFMT_S16_LE:
 	    alsa_format.format = SND_PCM_SFMT_S16_LE;
 	    break;
+#ifdef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case AFMT_S16_BE:
 	    alsa_format.format = SND_PCM_SFMT_S16_BE;
 	    break;
diff --git a/libao2/ao_alsa9.c b/libao2/ao_alsa9.c
index 0f35f2e819..f95d21a84b 100644
--- a/libao2/ao_alsa9.c
+++ b/libao2/ao_alsa9.c
@@ -125,9 +125,15 @@ static int init(int rate_hz, int channels, int format, int flags)
 	case AFMT_U16_BE:
 	    alsa_format = SND_PCM_FORMAT_U16_BE;
 	    break;
+#ifndef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case AFMT_S16_LE:
 	    alsa_format = SND_PCM_FORMAT_S16_LE;
 	    break;
+#ifdef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case AFMT_S16_BE:
 	    alsa_format = SND_PCM_FORMAT_S16_BE;
 	    break;
diff --git a/libao2/ao_nas.c b/libao2/ao_nas.c
index 7a651324f7..8118e6256d 100644
--- a/libao2/ao_nas.c
+++ b/libao2/ao_nas.c
@@ -291,7 +291,13 @@ static unsigned char nas_aformat_to_auformat(unsigned int format)
 	case	AFMT_S8:	return AuFormatLinearSigned8;
 	case	AFMT_U16_LE:	return AuFormatLinearUnsigned16LSB;
 	case	AFMT_U16_BE:	return AuFormatLinearUnsigned16MSB;
+#ifndef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case	AFMT_S16_LE:	return AuFormatLinearSigned16LSB;
+#ifdef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+	case AFMT_AC3:
+#endif
 	case	AFMT_S16_BE:	return AuFormatLinearSigned16MSB;
 	case	AFMT_MU_LAW:	return AuFormatULAW8;
 	default: return 0;
diff --git a/libao2/ao_oss.c b/libao2/ao_oss.c
index 1ac3b79a5c..17e6fc4fd5 100644
--- a/libao2/ao_oss.c
+++ b/libao2/ao_oss.c
@@ -123,12 +123,18 @@ static int init(int rate,int channels,int format,int flags){
     ao_data.samplerate=rate;
     ioctl (audio_fd, SNDCTL_DSP_SPEED, &ao_data.samplerate);
   }
-  
+
+ac3_retry:  
   ao_data.format=format;
-  ioctl (audio_fd, SNDCTL_DSP_SETFMT, &ao_data.format);
-  if(format == AFMT_AC3 && ao_data.format != AFMT_AC3) {
-      printf("Can't set audio device %s to AC3 output\n", dsp);
-      return 0;
+  if( ioctl(audio_fd, SNDCTL_DSP_SETFMT, &ao_data.format)<0 ||
+      ao_data.format != format) if(format == AFMT_AC3){
+    printf("Can't set audio device %s to AC3 output, trying S16...\n", dsp);
+#ifdef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+    format=AFMT_S16_BE;
+#else
+    format=AFMT_S16_LE;
+#endif
+    goto ac3_retry;
   }
   printf("audio_setup: sample format: %s (requested: %s)\n",
     audio_out_format_name(ao_data.format), audio_out_format_name(format));