diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 8b99af223d..7742ea4ba2 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -6800,7 +6800,7 @@ enabled libopencv         && { check_headers opencv2/core/core_c.h &&
                                { check_pkg_config libopencv opencv opencv2/core/core_c.h cvCreateImageHeader ||
                                  require libopencv opencv2/core/core_c.h cvCreateImageHeader -lopencv_core -lopencv_imgproc; } ||
                                require_pkg_config libopencv opencv opencv/cxcore.h cvCreateImageHeader; }
-enabled libopenh264       && require_pkg_config libopenh264 openh264 wels/codec_api.h WelsGetCodecVersion
+enabled libopenh264       && require_pkg_config libopenh264 "openh264 >= 1.3.0" wels/codec_api.h WelsGetCodecVersion
 enabled libopenjpeg       && { check_pkg_config libopenjpeg "libopenjp2 >= 2.1.0" openjpeg.h opj_version ||
                                { require_pkg_config libopenjpeg "libopenjp2 >= 2.1.0" openjpeg.h opj_version -DOPJ_STATIC && add_cppflags -DOPJ_STATIC; } }
 enabled libopenmpt        && require_pkg_config libopenmpt "libopenmpt >= 0.2.6557" libopenmpt/libopenmpt.h openmpt_module_create -lstdc++ && append libopenmpt_extralibs "-lstdc++"
diff --git a/libavcodec/libopenh264.c b/libavcodec/libopenh264.c
index 0f6d28ed88..c80c85ea8b 100644
--- a/libavcodec/libopenh264.c
+++ b/libavcodec/libopenh264.c
@@ -46,18 +46,3 @@ void ff_libopenh264_trace_callback(void *ctx, int level, const char *msg)
     int equiv_ffmpeg_log_level = libopenh264_to_ffmpeg_log_level(level);
     av_log(ctx, equiv_ffmpeg_log_level, "%s\n", msg);
 }
-
-int ff_libopenh264_check_version(void *logctx)
-{
-    // Mingw GCC < 4.7 on x86_32 uses an incorrect/buggy ABI for the WelsGetCodecVersion
-    // function (for functions returning larger structs), thus skip the check in those
-    // configurations.
-#if !defined(_WIN32) || !defined(__GNUC__) || !ARCH_X86_32 || AV_GCC_VERSION_AT_LEAST(4, 7)
-    OpenH264Version libver = WelsGetCodecVersion();
-    if (memcmp(&libver, &g_stCodecVersion, sizeof(libver))) {
-        av_log(logctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Incorrect library version loaded\n");
-        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
-    }
-#endif
-    return 0;
-}
diff --git a/libavcodec/libopenh264.h b/libavcodec/libopenh264.h
index dbb9c5d429..0b462d6fdc 100644
--- a/libavcodec/libopenh264.h
+++ b/libavcodec/libopenh264.h
@@ -34,6 +34,4 @@
 
 void ff_libopenh264_trace_callback(void *ctx, int level, const char *msg);
 
-int ff_libopenh264_check_version(void *logctx);
-
 #endif /* AVCODEC_LIBOPENH264_H */
diff --git a/libavcodec/libopenh264dec.c b/libavcodec/libopenh264dec.c
index 7d650ae03e..b6a9bba2dc 100644
--- a/libavcodec/libopenh264dec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/libopenh264dec.c
@@ -52,13 +52,9 @@ static av_cold int svc_decode_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
 {
     SVCContext *s = avctx->priv_data;
     SDecodingParam param = { 0 };
-    int err;
     int log_level;
     WelsTraceCallback callback_function;
 
-    if ((err = ff_libopenh264_check_version(avctx)) < 0)
-        return AVERROR_DECODER_NOT_FOUND;
-
     if (WelsCreateDecoder(&s->decoder)) {
         av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Unable to create decoder\n");
         return AVERROR_UNKNOWN;
diff --git a/libavcodec/libopenh264enc.c b/libavcodec/libopenh264enc.c
index f518d0894e..6f231d22b2 100644
--- a/libavcodec/libopenh264enc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/libopenh264enc.c
@@ -110,14 +110,10 @@ static av_cold int svc_encode_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
 {
     SVCContext *s = avctx->priv_data;
     SEncParamExt param = { 0 };
-    int err;
     int log_level;
     WelsTraceCallback callback_function;
     AVCPBProperties *props;
 
-    if ((err = ff_libopenh264_check_version(avctx)) < 0)
-        return AVERROR_ENCODER_NOT_FOUND;
-
     if (WelsCreateSVCEncoder(&s->encoder)) {
         av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Unable to create encoder\n");
         return AVERROR_UNKNOWN;