diff -Naur a/libmpcodecs/vf_lavc.c b/libmpcodecs/vf_lavc.c
--- a/libmpcodecs/vf_lavc.c	2012-07-29 15:03:21.000000000 -0400
+++ b/libmpcodecs/vf_lavc.c	2013-01-03 18:52:21.204490750 -0500
@@ -76,11 +76,6 @@
 	return 0;
     }
 
-    if (lavc_venc_context.codec->encode == NULL) {
-	mp_msg(MSGT_VFILTER,MSGL_ERR,"avcodec init failed (ctx->codec->encode == NULL)!\n");
-	return 0;
-    }
-
     return vf_next_config(vf,width,height,d_width,d_height,flags,IMGFMT_MPEGPES);
 }