diff --git a/libavutil/buffer.c b/libavutil/buffer.c
index b5e92c9f14..2b38081e1d 100644
--- a/libavutil/buffer.c
+++ b/libavutil/buffer.c
@@ -192,3 +192,146 @@ int av_buffer_realloc(AVBufferRef **pbuf, int size)
     buf->buffer->size = buf->size = size;
     return 0;
 }
+
+AVBufferPool *av_buffer_pool_init(int size, AVBufferRef* (*alloc)(int size))
+{
+    AVBufferPool *pool = av_mallocz(sizeof(*pool));
+    if (!pool)
+        return NULL;
+
+    pool->size     = size;
+    pool->alloc    = alloc ? alloc : av_buffer_alloc;
+
+    avpriv_atomic_int_set(&pool->refcount, 1);
+
+    return pool;
+}
+
+/*
+ * This function gets called when the pool has been uninited and
+ * all the buffers returned to it.
+ */
+static void buffer_pool_free(AVBufferPool *pool)
+{
+    while (pool->pool) {
+        BufferPoolEntry *buf = pool->pool;
+        pool->pool = buf->next;
+
+        buf->free(buf->opaque, buf->data);
+        av_freep(&buf);
+    }
+    av_freep(&pool);
+}
+
+void av_buffer_pool_uninit(AVBufferPool **ppool)
+{
+    AVBufferPool *pool;
+
+    if (!ppool || !*ppool)
+        return;
+    pool   = *ppool;
+    *ppool = NULL;
+
+    if (!avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->refcount, -1))
+        buffer_pool_free(pool);
+}
+
+/* remove the whole buffer list from the pool and return it */
+static BufferPoolEntry *get_pool(AVBufferPool *pool)
+{
+    BufferPoolEntry *cur = NULL, *last = NULL;
+
+    do {
+        FFSWAP(BufferPoolEntry*, cur, last);
+        cur = avpriv_atomic_ptr_cas((void * volatile *)&pool->pool, last, NULL);
+        if (!cur)
+            return NULL;
+    } while (cur != last);
+
+    return cur;
+}
+
+static void add_to_pool(BufferPoolEntry *buf)
+{
+    AVBufferPool *pool;
+    BufferPoolEntry *cur, *end = buf;
+
+    if (!buf)
+        return;
+    pool = buf->pool;
+
+    while (end->next)
+        end = end->next;
+
+    while ((cur = avpriv_atomic_ptr_cas((void * volatile *)&pool->pool, NULL, buf))) {
+        /* pool is not empty, retrieve it and append it to our list */
+        cur = get_pool(pool);
+        end->next = cur;
+        while (end->next)
+            end = end->next;
+    }
+}
+
+static void pool_release_buffer(void *opaque, uint8_t *data)
+{
+    BufferPoolEntry *buf = opaque;
+    AVBufferPool *pool = buf->pool;
+    add_to_pool(buf);
+    if (!avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->refcount, -1))
+        buffer_pool_free(pool);
+}
+
+/* allocate a new buffer and override its free() callback so that
+ * it is returned to the pool on free */
+static AVBufferRef *pool_alloc_buffer(AVBufferPool *pool)
+{
+    BufferPoolEntry *buf;
+    AVBufferRef     *ret;
+
+    ret = pool->alloc(pool->size);
+    if (!ret)
+        return NULL;
+
+    buf = av_mallocz(sizeof(*buf));
+    if (!buf) {
+        av_buffer_unref(&ret);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    buf->data   = ret->buffer->data;
+    buf->opaque = ret->buffer->opaque;
+    buf->free   = ret->buffer->free;
+    buf->pool   = pool;
+
+    ret->buffer->opaque = buf;
+    ret->buffer->free   = pool_release_buffer;
+
+    avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->refcount, 1);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+AVBufferRef *av_buffer_pool_get(AVBufferPool *pool)
+{
+    AVBufferRef *ret;
+    BufferPoolEntry *buf;
+
+    /* check whether the pool is empty */
+    buf = get_pool(pool);
+    if (!buf)
+        return pool_alloc_buffer(pool);
+
+    /* keep the first entry, return the rest of the list to the pool */
+    add_to_pool(buf->next);
+    buf->next = NULL;
+
+    ret = av_buffer_create(buf->data, pool->size, pool_release_buffer,
+                           buf, 0);
+    if (!ret) {
+        add_to_pool(buf);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->refcount, 1);
+
+    return ret;
+}
diff --git a/libavutil/buffer.h b/libavutil/buffer.h
index 843dfbe24a..e348c6e019 100644
--- a/libavutil/buffer.h
+++ b/libavutil/buffer.h
@@ -190,6 +190,76 @@ int av_buffer_make_writable(AVBufferRef **buf);
  */
 int av_buffer_realloc(AVBufferRef **buf, int size);
 
+/**
+ * @}
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @defgroup lavu_bufferpool AVBufferPool
+ * @ingroup lavu_data
+ *
+ * @{
+ * AVBufferPool is an API for a lock-free thread-safe pool of AVBuffers.
+ *
+ * Frequently allocating and freeing large buffers may be slow. AVBufferPool is
+ * meant to solve this in cases when the caller needs a set of buffers of the
+ * same size (the most obvious use case being buffers for raw video or audio
+ * frames).
+ *
+ * At the beginning, the user must call av_buffer_pool_init() to create the
+ * buffer pool. Then whenever a buffer is needed, call av_buffer_pool_get() to
+ * get a reference to a new buffer, similar to av_buffer_alloc(). This new
+ * reference works in all aspects the same way as the one created by
+ * av_buffer_alloc(). However, when the last reference to this buffer is
+ * unreferenced, it is returned to the pool instead of being freed and will be
+ * reused for subsequent av_buffer_pool_get() calls.
+ *
+ * When the caller is done with the pool and no longer needs to allocate any new
+ * buffers, av_buffer_pool_uninit() must be called to mark the pool as freeable.
+ * Once all the buffers are released, it will automatically be freed.
+ *
+ * Allocating and releasing buffers with this API is thread-safe as long as
+ * either the default alloc callback is used, or the user-supplied one is
+ * thread-safe.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * The buffer pool. This structure is opaque and not meant to be accessed
+ * directly. It is allocated with av_buffer_pool_init() and freed with
+ * av_buffer_pool_uninit().
+ */
+typedef struct AVBufferPool AVBufferPool;
+
+/**
+ * Allocate and initialize a buffer pool.
+ *
+ * @param size size of each buffer in this pool
+ * @param alloc a function that will be used to allocate new buffers when the
+ * pool is empty. May be NULL, then the default allocator will be used
+ * (av_buffer_alloc()).
+ * @return newly created buffer pool on success, NULL on error.
+ */
+AVBufferPool *av_buffer_pool_init(int size, AVBufferRef* (*alloc)(int size));
+
+/**
+ * Mark the pool as being available for freeing. It will actually be freed only
+ * once all the allocated buffers associated with the pool are released. Thus it
+ * is safe to call this function while some of the allocated buffers are still
+ * in use.
+ *
+ * @param pool pointer to the pool to be freed. It will be set to NULL.
+ * @see av_buffer_pool_can_uninit()
+ */
+void av_buffer_pool_uninit(AVBufferPool **pool);
+
+/**
+ * Allocate a new AVBuffer, reusing an old buffer from the pool when available.
+ * This function may be called simultaneously from multiple threads.
+ *
+ * @return a reference to the new buffer on success, NULL on error.
+ */
+AVBufferRef *av_buffer_pool_get(AVBufferPool *pool);
+
 /**
  * @}
  */
diff --git a/libavutil/buffer_internal.h b/libavutil/buffer_internal.h
index 677c341d64..cce83c3cd1 100644
--- a/libavutil/buffer_internal.h
+++ b/libavutil/buffer_internal.h
@@ -57,4 +57,36 @@ struct AVBuffer {
     int flags;
 };
 
+typedef struct BufferPoolEntry {
+    uint8_t *data;
+
+    /*
+     * Backups of the original opaque/free of the AVBuffer corresponding to
+     * data. They will be used to free the buffer when the pool is freed.
+     */
+    void *opaque;
+    void (*free)(void *opaque, uint8_t *data);
+
+    AVBufferPool *pool;
+    struct BufferPoolEntry * volatile next;
+} BufferPoolEntry;
+
+struct AVBufferPool {
+    BufferPoolEntry * volatile pool;
+
+    /*
+     * This is used to track when the pool is to be freed.
+     * The pointer to the pool itself held by the caller is considered to
+     * be one reference. Each buffer requested by the caller increases refcount
+     * by one, returning the buffer to the pool decreases it by one.
+     * refcount reaches zero when the buffer has been uninited AND all the
+     * buffers have been released, then it's safe to free the pool and all
+     * the buffers in it.
+     */
+    volatile int refcount;
+
+    int size;
+    AVBufferRef* (*alloc)(int size);
+};
+
 #endif /* AVUTIL_BUFFER_INTERNAL_H */