diff --git a/doc/filters.texi b/doc/filters.texi
index 5ff34e05ce..e5d2e8e49d 100644
--- a/doc/filters.texi
+++ b/doc/filters.texi
@@ -6095,9 +6095,7 @@ which specifies the number of neighbor alive cells which will make a
 cell stay alive or born. The @option{rule} option allows to specify
 the rule to adopt.
 
-This source accepts a list of options in the form of
-@var{key}=@var{value} pairs separated by ":". A description of the
-accepted options follows.
+This source accepts the following options:
 
 @table @option
 @item filename, f
diff --git a/libavfilter/avfilter.c b/libavfilter/avfilter.c
index dbc517e38c..717ba8916c 100644
--- a/libavfilter/avfilter.c
+++ b/libavfilter/avfilter.c
@@ -680,6 +680,7 @@ int avfilter_init_filter(AVFilterContext *filter, const char *args, void *opaque
         !strcmp(filter->filter->name, "gradfun"    ) ||
         !strcmp(filter->filter->name, "hqdn3d"     ) ||
         !strcmp(filter->filter->name, "ocv"        ) ||
+        !strcmp(filter->filter->name, "life"       ) ||
         !strcmp(filter->filter->name, "lut"        ) ||
         !strcmp(filter->filter->name, "lutyuv"     ) ||
         !strcmp(filter->filter->name, "lutrgb"     ) ||
diff --git a/libavfilter/vsrc_life.c b/libavfilter/vsrc_life.c
index d7ed40bf53..2d0b2f524a 100644
--- a/libavfilter/vsrc_life.c
+++ b/libavfilter/vsrc_life.c
@@ -225,12 +225,6 @@ static int init(AVFilterContext *ctx, const char *args)
     LifeContext *life = ctx->priv;
     int ret;
 
-    life->class = &life_class;
-    av_opt_set_defaults(life);
-
-    if ((ret = av_set_options_string(life, args, "=", ":")) < 0)
-        return ret;
-
     if (!life->w && !life->filename)
         av_opt_set(life, "size", "320x240", 0);