diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f98c20c2d8..979d6179ae 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 *.dylib
 *.exe
 *.exp
+*.gcda
+*.gcno
 *.h.c
 *.ilk
 *.lib
@@ -24,6 +26,7 @@
 /ffprobe
 /ffserver
 /config.*
+/coverage.info
 /version.h
 /doc/*.1
 /doc/*.3
@@ -44,6 +47,7 @@
 /doc/fate.txt
 /doc/doxy/html/
 /doc/print_options
+/lcov/
 /libavcodec/*_tablegen
 /libavcodec/*_tables.c
 /libavcodec/*_tables.h
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2cafd408dc..7addffbaad 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ clean::
 	$(RM) $(ALLPROGS) $(ALLPROGS_G)
 	$(RM) $(CLEANSUFFIXES)
 	$(RM) $(CLEANSUFFIXES:%=tools/%)
-	$(RM) coverage.info
 	$(RM) -r coverage-html
+	$(RM) -rf coverage.info lcov
 
 distclean::
 	$(RM) $(DISTCLEANSUFFIXES)
@@ -164,15 +164,6 @@ distclean::
 config:
 	$(SRC_PATH)/configure $(value FFMPEG_CONFIGURATION)
 
-# Without the sed genthml thinks "libavutil" and "./libavutil" are two different things
-coverage.info: $(wildcard *.gcda *.gcno */*.gcda */*.gcno */*/*.gcda */*/*.gcno)
-	$(Q)lcov -c -d . -b . | sed -e 's#/./#/#g' > $@
-
-coverage-html: coverage.info
-	$(Q)mkdir -p $@
-	$(Q)genhtml -o $@ $<
-	$(Q)touch $@
-
 check: all alltools examples testprogs fate
 
 include $(SRC_PATH)/doc/Makefile
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 6dcb0c1f3b..0da1f772fa 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -316,7 +316,6 @@ Optimization options (experts only):
   --disable-fast-unaligned consider unaligned accesses slow
 
 Developer options (useful when working on FFmpeg itself):
-  --enable-coverage        build with test coverage instrumentation
   --disable-debug          disable debugging symbols
   --enable-debug=LEVEL     set the debug level [$debuglevel]
   --disable-optimizations  disable compiler optimizations
@@ -1560,7 +1559,6 @@ CMDLINE_SELECT="
     $HAVE_LIST_CMDLINE
     $THREADS_LIST
     asm
-    coverage
     cross_compile
     debug
     extra_warnings
@@ -2481,6 +2479,10 @@ case "$toolchain" in
         ar_default="lib"
         target_os_default="win32"
     ;;
+    gcov)
+        add_cflags  -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage
+        add_ldflags -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage
+    ;;
     ?*)
         die "Unknown toolchain $toolchain"
     ;;
@@ -4117,7 +4119,6 @@ enabled vdpau &&
 disabled iconv || check_func_headers iconv.h iconv || check_lib2 iconv.h iconv -liconv || disable iconv
 
 enabled debug && add_cflags -g"$debuglevel" && add_asflags -g"$debuglevel"
-enabled coverage && add_cflags "-fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage" && add_ldflags "-fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage"
 test -n "$valgrind" && target_exec="$valgrind --error-exitcode=1 --malloc-fill=0x2a --track-origins=yes --leak-check=full --gen-suppressions=all --suppressions=$source_path/tests/fate-valgrind.supp"
 
 # add some useful compiler flags if supported
diff --git a/doc/developer.texi b/doc/developer.texi
index baf7d20675..d5580d1543 100644
--- a/doc/developer.texi
+++ b/doc/developer.texi
@@ -580,6 +580,30 @@ message or introductionary message for the patch series that you post to
 the ffmpeg-devel mailing list, a direct link to download the sample media.
 
 
+@subsection Visualizing Test Coverage
+
+The FFmpeg build system allows visualizing the test coverage in an easy
+manner with the coverage tools @code{gcov}/@code{lcov}.  This involves
+the following steps:
+
+@enumerate
+@item
+    Configure to compile with instrumentation enabled:
+    @code{configure --toolchain=gcov}.
+@item
+    Run your test case, either manually or via FATE. This can be either
+    the full FATE regression suite, or any arbitrary invocation of any
+    front-end tool provided by FFmpeg, in any combination.
+@item
+    Run @code{make lcov} to generate coverage data in HTML format.
+@item
+    View @code{lcov/index.html} in your preferred HTML viewer.
+@end enumerate
+
+You can use the command @code{make lcov-reset} to reset the coverage
+measurements. You will need to rerun @code{make lcov} after running a
+new test.
+
 @anchor{Release process}
 @section Release process
 
diff --git a/tests/Makefile b/tests/Makefile
index 802f350d2c..9dfd343ef2 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/Makefile
@@ -160,6 +160,19 @@ $(FATE) $(FATE_TESTS-no): $(FATE_UTILS:%=tests/%$(HOSTEXESUF))
 fate-list:
 	@printf '%s\n' $(sort $(FATE))
 
+coverage.info: TAG = LCOV
+coverage.info:
+	$(M)lcov -d $(CURDIR) -b $(SRC_PATH) --capture | sed -e 's#/./#/#g' > $@
+
+lcov:  TAG = GENHTML
+lcov: coverage.info
+	$(M)genhtml -o $(CURDIR)/lcov $<
+
+lcov-reset: TAG = LCOV
+lcov-reset:
+	$(M)lcov -d $(CURDIR) --zerocounters
+	$(Q)$(RM) -f coverage.info
+
 clean:: testclean
 
 testclean:
@@ -169,4 +182,5 @@ testclean:
 
 -include $(wildcard tests/*.d)
 
-.PHONY: fate*
+.PHONY: fate* lcov lcov-reset
+.INTERMEDIATE: coverage.info