diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index f39b49d511..7a24a4d246 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -144,6 +144,8 @@ void avcodec_align_dimensions(AVCodecContext *s, int *width, int *height){
     case PIX_FMT_YUVA420P:
         w_align= 16; //FIXME check for non mpeg style codecs and use less alignment
         h_align= 16;
+        if(s->codec_id == CODEC_ID_MPEG2VIDEO)
+            h_align= 32; // interlaced is rounded up to 2 MBs
         break;
     case PIX_FMT_YUV411P:
     case PIX_FMT_UYYVYY411: