diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index 4e1c877219..fe3366b256 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -1757,12 +1757,11 @@ typedef struct AVCodecContext {
      */
     int last_predictor_count;
 
-    /**
-     * prepass for motion estimation
-     * - encoding: Set by user.
-     * - decoding: unused
-     */
+#if FF_API_PRIVATE_OPT
+    /** @deprecated use encoder private options instead */
+    attribute_deprecated
     int pre_me;
+#endif
 
     /**
      * motion estimation prepass comparison function
diff --git a/libavcodec/mpegvideo.h b/libavcodec/mpegvideo.h
index 7c1b48afb8..2fd0dc2d8a 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mpegvideo.h
+++ b/libavcodec/mpegvideo.h
@@ -251,6 +251,7 @@ typedef struct MpegEncContext {
 #endif
     int motion_est;                      ///< ME algorithm
     int me_penalty_compensation;
+    int me_pre;                          ///< prepass for motion estimation
     int mv_dir;
 #define MV_DIR_FORWARD   1
 #define MV_DIR_BACKWARD  2
@@ -618,6 +619,7 @@ FF_MPV_OPT_CMP_FUNC, \
 {"mpeg_quant", "Use MPEG quantizers instead of H.263",              FF_MPV_OFFSET(mpeg_quant), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = 0 }, 0, 1, FF_MPV_OPT_FLAGS }, \
 {"ps", "RTP payload size in bytes",                             FF_MPV_OFFSET(rtp_payload_size), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = 0 }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, FF_MPV_OPT_FLAGS }, \
 {"mepc", "Motion estimation bitrate penalty compensation (1.0 = 256)", FF_MPV_OFFSET(me_penalty_compensation), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = 256 }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, FF_MPV_OPT_FLAGS }, \
+{"mepre", "pre motion estimation", FF_MPV_OFFSET(me_pre), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = 0 }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, FF_MPV_OPT_FLAGS }, \
 
 extern const AVOption ff_mpv_generic_options[];
 
diff --git a/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c b/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c
index 213367a84e..d16e408c84 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c
@@ -300,6 +300,8 @@ FF_DISABLE_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS
         s->rtp_payload_size = avctx->rtp_payload_size;
     if (avctx->me_penalty_compensation)
         s->me_penalty_compensation = avctx->me_penalty_compensation;
+    if (avctx->pre_me)
+        s->me_pre = avctx->pre_me;
 FF_ENABLE_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS
 #endif
 
@@ -3465,7 +3467,8 @@ static int encode_picture(MpegEncContext *s, int picture_number)
         s->lambda  = (s->lambda  * s->me_penalty_compensation + 128) >> 8;
         s->lambda2 = (s->lambda2 * (int64_t) s->me_penalty_compensation + 128) >> 8;
         if (s->pict_type != AV_PICTURE_TYPE_B) {
-            if((s->avctx->pre_me && s->last_non_b_pict_type==AV_PICTURE_TYPE_I) || s->avctx->pre_me==2){
+            if ((s->me_pre && s->last_non_b_pict_type == AV_PICTURE_TYPE_I) ||
+                s->me_pre == 2) {
                 s->avctx->execute(s->avctx, pre_estimate_motion_thread, &s->thread_context[0], NULL, context_count, sizeof(void*));
             }
         }
diff --git a/libavcodec/options_table.h b/libavcodec/options_table.h
index fbf0967f31..fe6a5486aa 100644
--- a/libavcodec/options_table.h
+++ b/libavcodec/options_table.h
@@ -279,7 +279,9 @@ static const AVOption avcodec_options[] = {
 {"ildctcmp", "interlaced DCT compare function", OFFSET(ildct_cmp), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = FF_CMP_VSAD }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|E, "cmp_func"},
 {"dia_size", "diamond type & size for motion estimation", OFFSET(dia_size), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = DEFAULT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|E},
 {"last_pred", "amount of motion predictors from the previous frame", OFFSET(last_predictor_count), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = DEFAULT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|E},
+#if FF_API_PRIVATE_OPT
 {"preme", "pre motion estimation", OFFSET(pre_me), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = DEFAULT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|E},
+#endif
 {"precmp", "pre motion estimation compare function", OFFSET(me_pre_cmp), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.i64 = DEFAULT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|E, "cmp_func"},
 {"sad", "sum of absolute differences, fast (default)", 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.i64 = FF_CMP_SAD }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|E, "cmp_func"},
 {"sse", "sum of squared errors", 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.i64 = FF_CMP_SSE }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|E, "cmp_func"},