diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index 05516bd38e..e1315c2eb4 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -3096,14 +3096,13 @@ const AVClass *avcodec_get_class(void);
  */
 int avcodec_copy_context(AVCodecContext *dest, const AVCodecContext *src);
 
+#if FF_API_AVFRAME_LAVC
 /**
- * Allocate an AVFrame and set its fields to default values.  The resulting
- * struct must be freed using avcodec_free_frame().
- *
- * @return An AVFrame filled with default values or NULL on failure.
- * @see avcodec_get_frame_defaults
+ * @deprecated use av_frame_alloc()
  */
+attribute_deprecated
 AVFrame *avcodec_alloc_frame(void);
+#endif
 
 /**
  * Set the fields of the given AVFrame to default values.
diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index da50e4268c..d21ca0eece 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -815,6 +815,7 @@ void avcodec_get_frame_defaults(AVFrame *frame)
     frame->extended_data       = frame->data;
 }
 
+#if FF_API_AVFRAME_LAVC
 AVFrame *avcodec_alloc_frame(void)
 {
     AVFrame *frame = av_mallocz(sizeof(AVFrame));
@@ -826,6 +827,7 @@ AVFrame *avcodec_alloc_frame(void)
 
     return frame;
 }
+#endif
 
 void avcodec_free_frame(AVFrame **frame)
 {