diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index 712a34af31..6c7ec0e1c0 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -3308,7 +3308,9 @@ void av_resample_compensate(struct AVResampleContext *c, int sample_delta, int c
 void av_resample_close(struct AVResampleContext *c);
 
 /**
- * Allocate memory for a picture.  Call avpicture_free to free it.
+ * Allocate memory for a picture.  Call avpicture_free() to free it.
+ *
+ * \see avpicture_fill()
  *
  * @param picture the picture to be filled in
  * @param pix_fmt the format of the picture
@@ -3320,6 +3322,8 @@ int avpicture_alloc(AVPicture *picture, enum PixelFormat pix_fmt, int width, int
 
 /**
  * Free a picture previously allocated by avpicture_alloc().
+ * The data buffer used by the AVPicture is freed, but the AVPicture structure
+ * itself is not.
  *
  * @param picture the AVPicture to be freed
  */
@@ -3335,6 +3339,9 @@ void avpicture_free(AVPicture *picture);
  * will be stored in the lines_sizes array.
  * Call with ptr == NULL to get the required size for the ptr buffer.
  *
+ * To allocate the buffer and fill in the AVPicture fields in one call,
+ * use avpicture_alloc().
+ *
  * @param picture AVPicture whose fields are to be filled in
  * @param ptr Buffer which will contain or contains the actual image data
  * @param pix_fmt The format in which the picture data is stored.
@@ -3344,6 +3351,22 @@ void avpicture_free(AVPicture *picture);
  */
 int avpicture_fill(AVPicture *picture, uint8_t *ptr,
                    enum PixelFormat pix_fmt, int width, int height);
+
+/**
+ * Copy pixel data from an AVPicture into a buffer.
+ * The data is stored compactly, without any gaps for alignment or padding
+ * which may be applied by avpicture_fill().
+ *
+ * \see avpicture_get_size()
+ *
+ * @param[in] src AVPicture containing image data
+ * @param[in] pix_fmt The format in which the picture data is stored.
+ * @param[in] width the width of the image in pixels.
+ * @param[in] height the height of the image in pixels.
+ * @param[out] dest A buffer into which picture data will be copied.
+ * @param[in] dest_size The size of 'dest'.
+ * @return The number of bytes written to dest, or a negative value (error code) on error.
+ */
 int avpicture_layout(const AVPicture* src, enum PixelFormat pix_fmt, int width, int height,
                      unsigned char *dest, int dest_size);
 
@@ -3351,8 +3374,8 @@ int avpicture_layout(const AVPicture* src, enum PixelFormat pix_fmt, int width,
  * Calculate the size in bytes that a picture of the given width and height
  * would occupy if stored in the given picture format.
  * Note that this returns the size of a compact representation as generated
- * by avpicture_layout, which can be smaller than the size required for e.g.
- * avpicture_fill.
+ * by avpicture_layout(), which can be smaller than the size required for e.g.
+ * avpicture_fill().
  *
  * @param pix_fmt the given picture format
  * @param width the width of the image
@@ -3361,7 +3384,14 @@ int avpicture_layout(const AVPicture* src, enum PixelFormat pix_fmt, int width,
  */
 int avpicture_get_size(enum PixelFormat pix_fmt, int width, int height);
 void avcodec_get_chroma_sub_sample(enum PixelFormat pix_fmt, int *h_shift, int *v_shift);
+
+/**
+ * Return the short name for a pixel format.
+ *
+ * \see av_get_pix_fmt(), av_get_pix_fmt_string().
+ */
 const char *avcodec_get_pix_fmt_name(enum PixelFormat pix_fmt);
+
 void avcodec_set_dimensions(AVCodecContext *s, int width, int height);
 
 #if LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR < 53
@@ -3498,9 +3528,12 @@ const char *avcodec_license(void);
 
 /**
  * Initialize libavcodec.
+ * If called more than once, does nothing.
  *
  * @warning This function must be called before any other libavcodec
  * function.
+ *
+ * @warning This function is not thread-safe.
  */
 void avcodec_init(void);
 
@@ -3514,7 +3547,7 @@ attribute_deprecated void register_avcodec(AVCodec *codec);
 /**
  * Register the codec codec and initialize libavcodec.
  *
- * @see avcodec_init()
+ * @see avcodec_init(), avcodec_register_all()
  */
 void avcodec_register(AVCodec *codec);
 
@@ -3702,7 +3735,7 @@ int avcodec_default_execute2(AVCodecContext *c, int (*func)(AVCodecContext *c2,
  * @param avctx The context which will be set up to use the given codec.
  * @param codec The codec to use within the context.
  * @return zero on success, a negative value on error
- * @see avcodec_alloc_context, avcodec_find_decoder, avcodec_find_encoder
+ * @see avcodec_alloc_context, avcodec_find_decoder, avcodec_find_encoder, avcodec_close
  */
 int avcodec_open(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVCodec *codec);