diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index f8c520bce6..074b27c2b2 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -327,6 +327,8 @@ int avpicture_deinterlace(AVPicture *dst, AVPicture *src,
 
 extern AVCodec *first_avcodec;
 
+/* returns LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_INT constant */
+unsigned avcodec_version( void );
 void avcodec_init(void);
 
 void register_avcodec(AVCodec *format);
diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index c15b5674ce..441b8f151f 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -402,6 +402,10 @@ int avpicture_get_size(int pix_fmt, int width, int height)
     return size;
 }
 
+unsigned avcodec_version( void )
+{
+  return LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_INT;
+}
 
 /* must be called before any other functions */
 void avcodec_init(void)