diff --git a/ffmpeg.c b/ffmpeg.c
index b196f58462..7b31019cab 100644
--- a/ffmpeg.c
+++ b/ffmpeg.c
@@ -1401,8 +1401,9 @@ static int output_packet(AVInputStream *ist, int ist_index,
         if (subtitle_to_free) {
             if (subtitle_to_free->rects != NULL) {
                 for (i = 0; i < subtitle_to_free->num_rects; i++) {
-                    av_free(subtitle_to_free->rects[i].bitmap);
-                    av_free(subtitle_to_free->rects[i].rgba_palette);
+                    av_freep(&subtitle_to_free->rects[i]->bitmap);
+                    av_freep(&subtitle_to_free->rects[i]->rgba_palette);
+                    av_freep(&subtitle_to_free->rects[i]);
                 }
                 av_freep(&subtitle_to_free->rects);
             }
diff --git a/ffplay.c b/ffplay.c
index 69b1fa1d83..982fb0117b 100644
--- a/ffplay.c
+++ b/ffplay.c
@@ -636,8 +636,9 @@ static void free_subpicture(SubPicture *sp)
 
     for (i = 0; i < sp->sub.num_rects; i++)
     {
-        av_free(sp->sub.rects[i].bitmap);
-        av_free(sp->sub.rects[i].rgba_palette);
+        av_freep(&sp->sub.rects[i]->bitmap);
+        av_freep(&sp->sub.rects[i]->rgba_palette);
+        av_freep(&sp->sub.rects[i]);
     }
 
     av_free(sp->sub.rects);
@@ -721,7 +722,7 @@ static void video_image_display(VideoState *is)
                     pict.linesize[2] = vp->bmp->pitches[1];
 
                     for (i = 0; i < sp->sub.num_rects; i++)
-                        blend_subrect(&pict, &sp->sub.rects[i],
+                        blend_subrect(&pict, sp->sub.rects[i],
                                       vp->bmp->w, vp->bmp->h);
 
                     SDL_UnlockYUVOverlay (vp->bmp);
@@ -1435,13 +1436,13 @@ static int subtitle_thread(void *arg)
 
             for (i = 0; i < sp->sub.num_rects; i++)
             {
-                for (j = 0; j < sp->sub.rects[i].nb_colors; j++)
+                for (j = 0; j < sp->sub.rects[i]->nb_colors; j++)
                 {
-                    RGBA_IN(r, g, b, a, sp->sub.rects[i].rgba_palette + j);
+                    RGBA_IN(r, g, b, a, sp->sub.rects[i]->rgba_palette + j);
                     y = RGB_TO_Y_CCIR(r, g, b);
                     u = RGB_TO_U_CCIR(r, g, b, 0);
                     v = RGB_TO_V_CCIR(r, g, b, 0);
-                    YUVA_OUT(sp->sub.rects[i].rgba_palette + j, y, u, v, a);
+                    YUVA_OUT(sp->sub.rects[i]->rgba_palette + j, y, u, v, a);
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index a409f1538b..8a8228193d 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -2409,7 +2409,7 @@ typedef struct AVSubtitle {
     uint32_t start_display_time; /* relative to packet pts, in ms */
     uint32_t end_display_time; /* relative to packet pts, in ms */
     uint32_t num_rects;
-    AVSubtitleRect *rects;
+    AVSubtitleRect **rects;
 } AVSubtitle;
 
 
diff --git a/libavcodec/dvbsub.c b/libavcodec/dvbsub.c
index d7cb2c4d95..bfc0be2479 100644
--- a/libavcodec/dvbsub.c
+++ b/libavcodec/dvbsub.c
@@ -228,8 +228,8 @@ static int encode_dvb_subtitles(DVBSubtitleContext *s,
     for (region_id = 0; region_id < h->num_rects; region_id++) {
         *q++ = region_id;
         *q++ = 0xff; /* reserved */
-        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id].x); /* left pos */
-        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id].y); /* top pos */
+        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id]->x); /* left pos */
+        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id]->y); /* top pos */
     }
 
     bytestream_put_be16(&pseg_len, q - pseg_len - 2);
@@ -239,10 +239,10 @@ static int encode_dvb_subtitles(DVBSubtitleContext *s,
 
             /* CLUT segment */
 
-            if (h->rects[clut_id].nb_colors <= 4) {
+            if (h->rects[clut_id]->nb_colors <= 4) {
                 /* 2 bpp, some decoders do not support it correctly */
                 bpp_index = 0;
-            } else if (h->rects[clut_id].nb_colors <= 16) {
+            } else if (h->rects[clut_id]->nb_colors <= 16) {
                 /* 4 bpp, standard encoding */
                 bpp_index = 1;
             } else {
@@ -257,15 +257,15 @@ static int encode_dvb_subtitles(DVBSubtitleContext *s,
             *q++ = clut_id;
             *q++ = (0 << 4) | 0xf; /* version = 0 */
 
-            for(i = 0; i < h->rects[clut_id].nb_colors; i++) {
+            for(i = 0; i < h->rects[clut_id]->nb_colors; i++) {
                 *q++ = i; /* clut_entry_id */
                 *q++ = (1 << (7 - bpp_index)) | (0xf << 1) | 1; /* 2 bits/pixel full range */
                 {
                     int a, r, g, b;
-                    a = (h->rects[clut_id].rgba_palette[i] >> 24) & 0xff;
-                    r = (h->rects[clut_id].rgba_palette[i] >> 16) & 0xff;
-                    g = (h->rects[clut_id].rgba_palette[i] >> 8) & 0xff;
-                    b = (h->rects[clut_id].rgba_palette[i] >> 0) & 0xff;
+                    a = (h->rects[clut_id]->rgba_palette[i] >> 24) & 0xff;
+                    r = (h->rects[clut_id]->rgba_palette[i] >> 16) & 0xff;
+                    g = (h->rects[clut_id]->rgba_palette[i] >> 8) & 0xff;
+                    b = (h->rects[clut_id]->rgba_palette[i] >> 0) & 0xff;
 
                     *q++ = RGB_TO_Y_CCIR(r, g, b);
                     *q++ = RGB_TO_V_CCIR(r, g, b, 0);
@@ -282,10 +282,10 @@ static int encode_dvb_subtitles(DVBSubtitleContext *s,
 
         /* region composition segment */
 
-        if (h->rects[region_id].nb_colors <= 4) {
+        if (h->rects[region_id]->nb_colors <= 4) {
             /* 2 bpp, some decoders do not support it correctly */
             bpp_index = 0;
-        } else if (h->rects[region_id].nb_colors <= 16) {
+        } else if (h->rects[region_id]->nb_colors <= 16) {
             /* 4 bpp, standard encoding */
             bpp_index = 1;
         } else {
@@ -299,8 +299,8 @@ static int encode_dvb_subtitles(DVBSubtitleContext *s,
         q += 2; /* segment length */
         *q++ = region_id;
         *q++ = (s->object_version << 4) | (0 << 3) | 0x07; /* version , no fill */
-        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id].w); /* region width */
-        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id].h); /* region height */
+        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id]->w); /* region width */
+        bytestream_put_be16(&q, h->rects[region_id]->h); /* region height */
         *q++ = ((1 + bpp_index) << 5) | ((1 + bpp_index) << 2) | 0x03;
         *q++ = region_id; /* clut_id == region_id */
         *q++ = 0; /* 8 bit fill colors */
@@ -322,10 +322,10 @@ static int encode_dvb_subtitles(DVBSubtitleContext *s,
         for (object_id = 0; object_id < h->num_rects; object_id++) {
             /* Object Data segment */
 
-            if (h->rects[object_id].nb_colors <= 4) {
+            if (h->rects[object_id]->nb_colors <= 4) {
                 /* 2 bpp, some decoders do not support it correctly */
                 bpp_index = 0;
-            } else if (h->rects[object_id].nb_colors <= 16) {
+            } else if (h->rects[object_id]->nb_colors <= 16) {
                 /* 4 bpp, standard encoding */
                 bpp_index = 1;
             } else {
@@ -358,12 +358,12 @@ static int encode_dvb_subtitles(DVBSubtitleContext *s,
                     dvb_encode_rle = dvb_encode_rle4;
 
                 top_ptr = q;
-                dvb_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id].bitmap, h->rects[object_id].w * 2,
-                                    h->rects[object_id].w, h->rects[object_id].h >> 1);
+                dvb_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id]->bitmap, h->rects[object_id]->w * 2,
+                                    h->rects[object_id]->w, h->rects[object_id]->h >> 1);
                 bottom_ptr = q;
-                dvb_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id].bitmap + h->rects[object_id].w,
-                                    h->rects[object_id].w * 2, h->rects[object_id].w,
-                                    h->rects[object_id].h >> 1);
+                dvb_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id]->bitmap + h->rects[object_id]->w,
+                                    h->rects[object_id]->w * 2, h->rects[object_id]->w,
+                                    h->rects[object_id]->h >> 1);
 
                 bytestream_put_be16(&ptop_field_len, bottom_ptr - top_ptr);
                 bytestream_put_be16(&pbottom_field_len, q - bottom_ptr);
diff --git a/libavcodec/dvbsubdec.c b/libavcodec/dvbsubdec.c
index 3f47c1b4d6..785e461072 100644
--- a/libavcodec/dvbsubdec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/dvbsubdec.c
@@ -1285,14 +1285,17 @@ static int dvbsub_display_end_segment(AVCodecContext *avctx, const uint8_t *buf,
 
     sub->num_rects = ctx->display_list_size;
 
-    if (sub->num_rects > 0)
-        sub->rects = av_mallocz(sizeof(AVSubtitleRect) * sub->num_rects);
+    if (sub->num_rects > 0){
+        sub->rects = av_mallocz(sizeof(*sub->rects) * sub->num_rects);
+        for(i=0; i<sub->num_rects; i++)
+            sub->rects[i] = av_mallocz(sizeof(*sub->rects[i]));
+    }
 
     i = 0;
 
     for (display = ctx->display_list; display; display = display->next) {
         region = get_region(ctx, display->region_id);
-        rect = &sub->rects[i];
+        rect = sub->rects[i];
 
         if (!region)
             continue;
diff --git a/libavcodec/dvdsubenc.c b/libavcodec/dvdsubenc.c
index a5380ceefd..0c2ef2fe01 100644
--- a/libavcodec/dvdsubenc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/dvdsubenc.c
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ static int encode_dvd_subtitles(uint8_t *outbuf, int outbuf_size,
         cmap[i] = 0;
     }
     for (object_id = 0; object_id < rects; object_id++)
-        for (i=0; i<h->rects[object_id].w*h->rects[object_id].h; ++i) {
-            color = h->rects[object_id].bitmap[i];
+        for (i=0; i<h->rects[object_id]->w*h->rects[object_id]->h; ++i) {
+            color = h->rects[object_id]->bitmap[i];
             // only count non-transparent pixels
-            alpha = h->rects[object_id].rgba_palette[color] >> 24;
+            alpha = h->rects[object_id]->rgba_palette[color] >> 24;
             hist[color] += alpha;
         }
     for (color=3;; --color) {
@@ -138,19 +138,19 @@ static int encode_dvd_subtitles(uint8_t *outbuf, int outbuf_size,
     for (object_id = 0; object_id < rects; object_id++) {
         offset1[object_id] = q - outbuf;
         // worst case memory requirement: 1 nibble per pixel..
-        if ((q - outbuf) + h->rects[object_id].w*h->rects[object_id].h/2
+        if ((q - outbuf) + h->rects[object_id]->w*h->rects[object_id]->h/2
             + 17*rects + 21 > outbuf_size) {
             av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "dvd_subtitle too big\n");
             return -1;
         }
-        dvd_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id].bitmap,
-                       h->rects[object_id].w*2,
-                       h->rects[object_id].w, h->rects[object_id].h >> 1,
+        dvd_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id]->bitmap,
+                       h->rects[object_id]->w*2,
+                       h->rects[object_id]->w, h->rects[object_id]->h >> 1,
                        cmap);
         offset2[object_id] = q - outbuf;
-        dvd_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id].bitmap + h->rects[object_id].w,
-                       h->rects[object_id].w*2,
-                       h->rects[object_id].w, h->rects[object_id].h >> 1,
+        dvd_encode_rle(&q, h->rects[object_id]->bitmap + h->rects[object_id]->w,
+                       h->rects[object_id]->w*2,
+                       h->rects[object_id]->w, h->rects[object_id]->h >> 1,
                        cmap);
     }
 
@@ -170,17 +170,17 @@ static int encode_dvd_subtitles(uint8_t *outbuf, int outbuf_size,
     // XXX not sure if more than one rect can really be encoded..
     // 12 bytes per rect
     for (object_id = 0; object_id < rects; object_id++) {
-        int x2 = h->rects[object_id].x + h->rects[object_id].w - 1;
-        int y2 = h->rects[object_id].y + h->rects[object_id].h - 1;
+        int x2 = h->rects[object_id]->x + h->rects[object_id]->w - 1;
+        int y2 = h->rects[object_id]->y + h->rects[object_id]->h - 1;
 
         *q++ = 0x05;
         // x1 x2 -> 6 nibbles
-        *q++ = h->rects[object_id].x >> 4;
-        *q++ = (h->rects[object_id].x << 4) | ((x2 >> 8) & 0xf);
+        *q++ = h->rects[object_id]->x >> 4;
+        *q++ = (h->rects[object_id]->x << 4) | ((x2 >> 8) & 0xf);
         *q++ = x2;
         // y1 y2 -> 6 nibbles
-        *q++ = h->rects[object_id].y >> 4;
-        *q++ = (h->rects[object_id].y << 4) | ((y2 >> 8) & 0xf);
+        *q++ = h->rects[object_id]->y >> 4;
+        *q++ = (h->rects[object_id]->y << 4) | ((y2 >> 8) & 0xf);
         *q++ = y2;
 
         *q++ = 0x06;
diff --git a/libavcodec/xsubdec.c b/libavcodec/xsubdec.c
index 5f7d8fd23d..f9dbff5790 100644
--- a/libavcodec/xsubdec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/xsubdec.c
@@ -80,31 +80,32 @@ static int decode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx, void *data, int *data_size,
 
     // allocate sub and set values
     if (!sub->rects) {
-        sub->rects = av_mallocz(sizeof(AVSubtitleRect));
+        sub->rects =  av_mallocz(sizeof(*sub->rects));
+        sub->rects[0] = av_mallocz(sizeof(*sub->rects[0]));
         sub->num_rects = 1;
     }
-    av_freep(&sub->rects[0].bitmap);
-    sub->rects[0].x = x; sub->rects[0].y = y;
-    sub->rects[0].w = w; sub->rects[0].h = h;
-    sub->rects[0].linesize = w;
-    sub->rects[0].bitmap = av_malloc(w * h);
-    sub->rects[0].nb_colors = 4;
-    sub->rects[0].rgba_palette = av_malloc(sub->rects[0].nb_colors * 4);
+    av_freep(&sub->rects[0]->bitmap);
+    sub->rects[0]->x = x; sub->rects[0]->y = y;
+    sub->rects[0]->w = w; sub->rects[0]->h = h;
+    sub->rects[0]->linesize = w;
+    sub->rects[0]->bitmap = av_malloc(w * h);
+    sub->rects[0]->nb_colors = 4;
+    sub->rects[0]->rgba_palette = av_malloc(sub->rects[0]->nb_colors * 4);
 
     // read palette
-    for (i = 0; i < sub->rects[0].nb_colors; i++)
-        sub->rects[0].rgba_palette[i] = bytestream_get_be24(&buf);
+    for (i = 0; i < sub->rects[0]->nb_colors; i++)
+        sub->rects[0]->rgba_palette[i] = bytestream_get_be24(&buf);
     // make all except background (first entry) non-transparent
-    for (i = 1; i < sub->rects[0].nb_colors; i++)
-        sub->rects[0].rgba_palette[i] |= 0xff000000;
+    for (i = 1; i < sub->rects[0]->nb_colors; i++)
+        sub->rects[0]->rgba_palette[i] |= 0xff000000;
 
     // process RLE-compressed data
     rlelen = FFMIN(rlelen, buf_end - buf);
     init_get_bits(&gb, buf, rlelen * 8);
-    bitmap = sub->rects[0].bitmap;
+    bitmap = sub->rects[0]->bitmap;
     for (y = 0; y < h; y++) {
         // interlaced: do odd lines
-        if (y == (h + 1) / 2) bitmap = sub->rects[0].bitmap + w;
+        if (y == (h + 1) / 2) bitmap = sub->rects[0]->bitmap + w;
         for (x = 0; x < w; ) {
             int log2 = ff_log2_tab[show_bits(&gb, 8)];
             int run = get_bits(&gb, 14 - 4 * (log2 >> 1));