diff --git a/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk b/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk
index 82d229903f..ced5ce598f 100644
--- a/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk
+++ b/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk
@@ -511,7 +511,11 @@ endif
 FFMPEG_CONF_OPTS += --disable-asm
 endif # MIPS
 
-ifeq ($(BR2_POWERPC_CPU_HAS_ALTIVEC),y)
+ifeq ($(BR2_POWERPC_CPU_HAS_ALTIVEC):$(BR2_powerpc64le),y:)
+FFMPEG_CONF_OPTS += --enable-altivec
+else ifeq ($(BR2_POWERPC_CPU_HAS_VSX):$(BR2_powerpc64le),y:y)
+# On LE, ffmpeg AltiVec support needs VSX intrinsics, and VSX
+# is an extension to AltiVec.
 FFMPEG_CONF_OPTS += --enable-altivec
 else
 FFMPEG_CONF_OPTS += --disable-altivec