diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 76efa6f4a2..875c6c1ae2 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+2006-10-18  Tim-Philipp Müller  <tim at centricular dot net>
+
+	* gst/playback/gstplaybasebin.c: (subbin_startup_sync_msg),
+	(setup_source):
+	  Catch async errors when starting up the subtitle bin, so we can
+	  stop waiting and continue with the main film instead of hanging
+	  forever. Fixes #339366.
+
+	* tests/check/elements/playbin.c: (playbin_suite):
+	  Enable unit test for the above.
+
 2006-10-18  Tim-Philipp Müller  <tim at centricular dot net>
 
 	* tests/check/Makefile.am:
diff --git a/gst/playback/gstplaybasebin.c b/gst/playback/gstplaybasebin.c
index 42bd66a723..000f3d82a8 100644
--- a/gst/playback/gstplaybasebin.c
+++ b/gst/playback/gstplaybasebin.c
@@ -1785,6 +1785,25 @@ remove_source (GstPlayBaseBin * bin)
   }
 }
 
+static GstBusSyncReply
+subbin_startup_sync_msg (GstBus * bus, GstMessage * msg, gpointer user_data)
+{
+  if (GST_MESSAGE_TYPE (msg) == GST_MESSAGE_ERROR) {
+    GstPlayBaseBin *play_base_bin;
+
+    play_base_bin = GST_PLAY_BASE_BIN (user_data);
+    if (!play_base_bin->subtitle_done) {
+      GST_WARNING_OBJECT (play_base_bin, "error starting up subtitle bin: %"
+          GST_PTR_FORMAT, msg);
+      play_base_bin->subtitle_done = TRUE;
+      GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (play_base_bin, "signal group done");
+      GROUP_SIGNAL (play_base_bin);
+      GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (play_base_bin, "signaled group done");
+    }
+  }
+  return GST_BUS_PASS;
+}
+
 /* construct and run the source and decoder elements until we found
  * all the streams or until a preroll queue has been filled.
 */
@@ -1851,6 +1870,14 @@ setup_source (GstPlayBaseBin * play_base_bin, gchar ** new_location)
 
       sret = gst_element_set_state (subbin, GST_STATE_PAUSED);
       if (sret != GST_STATE_CHANGE_FAILURE) {
+        GstBus *bus;
+
+        /* since subbin is still a stand-alone bin, we need to add a custom bus
+         * to intercept error messages, so we can stop waiting and continue */
+        bus = gst_bus_new ();
+        gst_element_set_bus (subbin, bus);
+        gst_bus_set_sync_handler (bus, subbin_startup_sync_msg, play_base_bin);
+
         GROUP_LOCK (play_base_bin);
         GST_DEBUG ("waiting for subtitle to complete...");
         while (!play_base_bin->subtitle_done)
@@ -1858,6 +1885,10 @@ setup_source (GstPlayBaseBin * play_base_bin, gchar ** new_location)
         GST_DEBUG ("group done !");
         GROUP_UNLOCK (play_base_bin);
 
+        gst_bus_set_sync_handler (bus, NULL, NULL);
+        gst_element_set_bus (subbin, NULL);
+        gst_object_unref (bus);
+
         if (!play_base_bin->building_group ||
             play_base_bin->building_group->type[GST_STREAM_TYPE_TEXT -
                 1].npads == 0) {
diff --git a/tests/check/elements/playbin.c b/tests/check/elements/playbin.c
index efce926435..4cebbe2a64 100644
--- a/tests/check/elements/playbin.c
+++ b/tests/check/elements/playbin.c
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_sink_usage_video_only_stream)
 
 GST_END_TEST;
 
-#if 0
 /* this tests async error handling when setting up the subbin */
 GST_START_TEST (test_suburi_error_unknowntype)
 {
@@ -101,7 +100,6 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_suburi_error_unknowntype)
 }
 
 GST_END_TEST;
-#endif
 
 GST_START_TEST (test_suburi_error_invalidfile)
 {
@@ -285,9 +283,12 @@ GST_PLUGIN_DEFINE_STATIC
     GST_VERSION_MINOR,
     "playbin-test-elements",
     "static elements for the playbin unit test",
-    plugin_init, VERSION, GST_LICENSE, GST_PACKAGE_NAME, GST_PACKAGE_ORIGIN)
+    plugin_init, VERSION, GST_LICENSE, GST_PACKAGE_NAME, GST_PACKAGE_ORIGIN);
+
 #endif /* GST_DISABLE_LOADSAVE_REGISTRY */
-     static Suite *playbin_suite (void)
+
+static Suite *
+playbin_suite (void)
 {
   Suite *s = suite_create ("playbin");
   TCase *tc_chain = tcase_create ("general");
@@ -298,7 +299,7 @@ GST_PLUGIN_DEFINE_STATIC
   tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_sink_usage_video_only_stream);
   tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_suburi_error_wrongproto);
   tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_suburi_error_invalidfile);
-  /* tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_suburi_error_unknowntype); */
+  tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_suburi_error_unknowntype);
 #endif
 
   return s;