diff --git a/libavcodec/qsvenc_hevc.c b/libavcodec/qsvenc_hevc.c
index 27ff0c6feb7dfaa60ca599c1ea5d6765d516d870..efed4d98f463119a1764f1bf66461833fc585e10 100644
--- a/libavcodec/qsvenc_hevc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/qsvenc_hevc.c
@@ -209,12 +209,18 @@ static av_cold int qsv_enc_close(AVCodecContext *avctx)
     return ff_qsv_enc_close(avctx, &q->qsv);
 }
 
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+#define LOAD_PLUGIN_DEFAULT LOAD_PLUGIN_HEVC_SW
+#else
+#define LOAD_PLUGIN_DEFAULT LOAD_PLUGIN_HEVC_HW
+#endif
+
 #define OFFSET(x) offsetof(QSVHEVCEncContext, x)
 #define VE AV_OPT_FLAG_VIDEO_PARAM | AV_OPT_FLAG_ENCODING_PARAM
 static const AVOption options[] = {
     QSV_COMMON_OPTS
 
-    { "load_plugin", "A user plugin to load in an internal session", OFFSET(load_plugin), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = LOAD_PLUGIN_HEVC_SW }, LOAD_PLUGIN_NONE, LOAD_PLUGIN_HEVC_HW, VE, "load_plugin" },
+    { "load_plugin", "A user plugin to load in an internal session", OFFSET(load_plugin), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = LOAD_PLUGIN_DEFAULT }, LOAD_PLUGIN_NONE, LOAD_PLUGIN_HEVC_HW, VE, "load_plugin" },
     { "none",     NULL, 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = LOAD_PLUGIN_NONE },    0, 0, VE, "load_plugin" },
     { "hevc_sw",  NULL, 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = LOAD_PLUGIN_HEVC_SW }, 0, 0, VE, "load_plugin" },
     { "hevc_hw",  NULL, 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 = LOAD_PLUGIN_HEVC_HW }, 0, 0, VE, "load_plugin" },