diff --git a/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp b/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp
index e7c9edbef..def7ef0c3 100644
--- a/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp
@@ -69,6 +69,55 @@ enum _AVPIXELFORMAT GetFFMPEGPixelFormat(unsigned int p_colours, unsigned p_subp
 
   return pf;
 }
+/* The following is copied directly from newer ffmpeg. */
+#if LIBAVUTIL_VERSION_CHECK(52, 7, 0, 17, 100)
+#else
+static int parse_key_value_pair(AVDictionary **pm, const char **buf,
+                                const char *key_val_sep, const char *pairs_sep,
+                                int flags)
+{
+    char *key = av_get_token(buf, key_val_sep);
+    char *val = NULL;
+    int ret;
+
+    if (key && *key && strspn(*buf, key_val_sep)) {
+        (*buf)++;
+        val = av_get_token(buf, pairs_sep);
+    }
+
+    if (key && *key && val && *val)
+        ret = av_dict_set(pm, key, val, flags);
+    else
+        ret = AVERROR(EINVAL);
+
+    av_freep(&key);
+    av_freep(&val);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+int av_dict_parse_string(AVDictionary **pm, const char *str,
+                            const char *key_val_sep, const char *pairs_sep,
+                            int flags)
+   {
+       int ret;
+   
+       if (!str)
+          return 0;
+   
+       /* ignore STRDUP flags */
+       flags &= ~(AV_DICT_DONT_STRDUP_KEY | AV_DICT_DONT_STRDUP_VAL);
+   
+       while (*str) {
+           if ((ret = parse_key_value_pair(pm, &str, key_val_sep, pairs_sep, flags)) < 0)
+              return ret;
+   
+           if (*str)
+               str++;
+       }
+   
+       return 0;
+  }
+#endif
 #endif // HAVE_LIBAVUTIL
 
 #if HAVE_LIBSWSCALE && HAVE_LIBAVUTIL
@@ -240,4 +289,5 @@ int SWScale::ConvertDefaults(const uint8_t* in_buffer, const size_t in_buffer_si
 }
 #endif // HAVE_LIBSWSCALE && HAVE_LIBAVUTIL
 
+
 #endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC || HAVE_LIBAVUTIL || HAVE_LIBSWSCALE
diff --git a/src/zm_ffmpeg.h b/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
index 894408437..f1486c2ee 100644
--- a/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
+++ b/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #include <libavutil/avutil.h>
 #include <libavutil/base64.h>
 #include <libavutil/mathematics.h>
+#include <libavutil/avstring.h>
 
 /* LIBAVUTIL_VERSION_CHECK checks for the right version of libav and FFmpeg
  * The original source is vlc (in modules/codec/avcodec/avcommon_compat.h)
@@ -274,7 +275,15 @@ protected:
   #undef av_err2str
   #define av_err2str(errnum) av_make_error_string(errnum).c_str()
 
-  #endif // __cplusplus
+  /* The following is copied directly from newer ffmpeg */
+  #if LIBAVUTIL_VERSION_CHECK(52, 7, 0, 17, 100)
+  #else
+    int av_dict_parse_string(AVDictionary **pm, const char *str,
+                            const char *key_val_sep, const char *pairs_sep,
+                            int flags);
+  #endif
+
+#endif // __cplusplus
 
 
 #endif // ( HAVE_LIBAVUTIL_AVUTIL_H || HAVE_LIBAVCODEC_AVCODEC_H || HAVE_LIBAVFORMAT_AVFORMAT_H || HAVE_LIBAVDEVICE_AVDEVICE_H )