diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index b0051d2ba0..bf86e1b49f 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -13,8 +13,12 @@ then
   cvs co common 
 fi
 
-# ensure that we have the dirs we put ext libs in to appease automake
-mkdir -p gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg
+if test ! -d gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg; 
+then 
+  echo "+ getting ffmpeg from cvs"
+  cvs co mirror-ffmpeg 
+fi
+
 
 # source helper functions
 if test ! -f common/gst-autogen.sh;
@@ -83,6 +87,12 @@ if test -f disable; then
   done
 fi
 
+# now, run ffmpeg's autogen
+echo "+ running autogen.sh in gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg"
+cd gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg
+sh autogen.sh || exit 1
+cd ../../..
+
 test -n "$NOCONFIGURE" && {
   echo "+ skipping configure stage for package $package, as requested."
   echo "+ autogen.sh done."
@@ -100,4 +110,5 @@ echo
         exit 1
 }
 
+echo
 echo "Now type 'make' to compile $package."
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2bbe1fa6fa..a98f88de71 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -78,47 +78,17 @@ AC_SUBST(plugindir)
 GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS='-module -avoid-version'
 AC_SUBST(GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS)
 
-dnl *** FFMPEG ***
-translit(dnm, m, l) AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_FFMPEG, true)
-GST_CHECK_FEATURE(FFMPEG, [ffmpeg plug-ins], ffmpeg, [
-  # only slurp in the case where we are in CVS mode;
-  # prerelease and release should get it disted
-  if test "x$GST_PLUGINS_VERSION_NANO" = x1; then
-    AC_MSG_NOTICE(slurping FFmpeg CVS source)
-    dnl until someone fixes this... I guess this should be in ./autogen.sh
-    AS_SLURP_FFMPEG(gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg, 2004-03-09 06:00 GMT,
-      if ! test -f gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg/configure.ac; then
-        AC_MSG_NOTICE(setting up ffmpeg build system and applying patches)
-        CURDIR=`pwd`
-        cd gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg
-        for PATCH in matroska autotools disablemmx disableinstalllibs functions; do
-          patch -p0 -N -r rejects < patch/${PATCH}.diff > /dev/null || true
-        done
-        cd ffmpeg
-        chmod a+x ./autogen.sh
-        NOCONFIGURE=1 ./autogen.sh
-        cd $CURDIR
-      fi
-      HAVE_FFMPEG=yes, HAVE_FFMPEG=no)
-  else
-    AC_MSG_NOTICE(FFmpeg CVS code should be included already)
-    HAVE_FFMPEG=yes
-  fi
-  # we only bother with uninstalled (included) ffmpeg for now
-  AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(HAVE_FFMPEG_UNINSTALLED, 1,
-                     [defined if we use uninstalled ffmpeg])
-])
-
 dnl Determine CPU
 GST_ARCH()
 
 dnl ###########################
 dnl # Configure external libs #
 dnl ###########################
-if test "x$HAVE_FFMPEG" = "xyes"; then
-  ac_configure_args="$ac_configure_args --disable-v4l --disable-audio-oss --disable-dv1394 --disable-vhook --disable-ffmpeg --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver"
-  AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg)
-fi 
+
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(HAVE_FFMPEG_UNINSTALLED, 1,
+                   [Defined if building against uninstalled FFmpeg source])
+ac_configure_args="$ac_configure_args --disable-v4l --disable-audio-oss --disable-dv1394 --disable-vhook --disable-ffmpeg --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver"
+AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg)
 
 AC_CONFIG_FILES(
 Makefile
@@ -127,6 +97,5 @@ ext/Makefile
 ext/ffmpeg/Makefile
 gst-libs/Makefile
 gst-libs/ext/Makefile
-gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile
 )
 AC_OUTPUT
diff --git a/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am b/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am
index 90bb40dc46..fb95da7c3a 100644
--- a/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am
+++ b/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@ libgstffmpeg_la_SOURCES = gstffmpeg.c 		\
 			  gstffmpegcolorspace.c
 
 libgstffmpeg_la_CFLAGS = $(GST_CFLAGS) \
-	-I $(top_srcdir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg/libavcodec \
-	-I $(top_srcdir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg/libavformat
+	-I $(top_srcdir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavformat \
+	-I $(top_srcdir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavcodec
 libgstffmpeg_la_LIBADD = \
-	$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg/libavformat/libavformat.la \
-	$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg/libavcodec/libavcodec.la
+	$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavformat/libavformat.la \
+	$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavcodec/libavcodec.la
 
 libgstffmpeg_la_LDFLAGS = $(GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/gst-libs/ext/Makefile.am b/gst-libs/ext/Makefile.am
index 2e709bec44..b91d01c8b9 100644
--- a/gst-libs/ext/Makefile.am
+++ b/gst-libs/ext/Makefile.am
@@ -1 +1,5 @@
-SUBDIRS = ffmpeg
+SUBDIRS =
+DIST_SUBDIRS = ffmpeg
+
+all-local:
+	cd ffmpeg && make