diff --git a/libavcodec/svq3.c b/libavcodec/svq3.c
index e5d7bb644b..b160987a05 100644
--- a/libavcodec/svq3.c
+++ b/libavcodec/svq3.c
@@ -766,7 +766,8 @@ static int svq3_decode_frame (AVCodecContext *avctx,
   *data_size = 0;
 
   s->flags = avctx->flags;
-  
+  s->unrestricted_mv = 1;
+
   if (!s->context_initialized) {
     s->width = avctx->width;
     s->height = avctx->height;