diff --git a/doc/ffmpeg.texi b/doc/ffmpeg.texi
index f3a4689d6cdbed4ef70cc291ebb0ea43fe8e0edc..ca801d31e403146098cafbf661b75bcccaf3b2b3 100644
--- a/doc/ffmpeg.texi
+++ b/doc/ffmpeg.texi
@@ -469,8 +469,6 @@ FF_ER_COMPLIANT
 @item 3
 FF_ER_AGGRESSIVE
 @item 4
-FF_ER_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
-@item 5
 FF_ER_EXPLODE
 @end table
 
diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index 75c107c159deecf2ba8b2a51396d0fc371f541e3..e1fd475ca6c505dffcfddd5946ef31b8c95e7fcf 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -1445,8 +1445,12 @@ typedef struct AVCodecContext {
 #define FF_ER_CAREFUL         1
 #define FF_ER_COMPLIANT       2
 #define FF_ER_AGGRESSIVE      3
+#if FF_API_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
 #define FF_ER_VERY_AGGRESSIVE 4
 #define FF_ER_EXPLODE         5
+#else
+#define FF_ER_EXPLODE         4
+#endif /* FF_API_VERY_AGGRESSIVE */
 
     /**
      * Called at the beginning of each frame to get a buffer for it.
diff --git a/libavcodec/options.c b/libavcodec/options.c
index 0f0ca2aaa3c0557e80fcd8b9a1ab7c445c783674..1ee02c04174944d5246c10f6c33f20ac6530bb69 100644
--- a/libavcodec/options.c
+++ b/libavcodec/options.c
@@ -183,7 +183,9 @@ static const AVOption options[]={
 {"careful", NULL, 0, FF_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl = FF_ER_CAREFUL }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|D, "er"},
 {"compliant", NULL, 0, FF_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl = FF_ER_COMPLIANT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|D, "er"},
 {"aggressive", NULL, 0, FF_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl = FF_ER_AGGRESSIVE }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|D, "er"},
+#if FF_API_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
 {"very_aggressive", NULL, 0, FF_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl = FF_ER_VERY_AGGRESSIVE }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|D, "er"},
+#endif /* FF_API_VERY_AGGRESSIVE */
 {"explode", "abort decoding on error recognition", 0, FF_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.dbl = FF_ER_EXPLODE }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, V|D, "er"},
 {"has_b_frames", NULL, OFFSET(has_b_frames), FF_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.dbl = DEFAULT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX},
 {"block_align", NULL, OFFSET(block_align), FF_OPT_TYPE_INT, {.dbl = DEFAULT }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX},
diff --git a/libavcodec/version.h b/libavcodec/version.h
index 8d40899557a9929b14d9046934ef2f6ee6f1e4d5..46e54990b1b5541be05906702f700de0d32c6ec9 100644
--- a/libavcodec/version.h
+++ b/libavcodec/version.h
@@ -77,5 +77,8 @@
 #ifndef FF_API_DRC_SCALE
 #define FF_API_DRC_SCALE        (LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR < 54)
 #endif
+#ifndef FF_API_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
+#define FF_API_VERY_AGGRESSIVE  (LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_MAJOR < 54)
+#endif
 
 #endif /* AVCODEC_VERSION_H */