diff --git a/DOCS/man/options.rst b/DOCS/man/options.rst
index 0ffd6c783a..14a901751d 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/options.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/options.rst
@@ -560,6 +560,10 @@ Program Behavior
     which mpv should not use with youtube-dl. The patterns are matched after
     the ``http(s)://`` part of the URL.
 
+    The `use_manifests` script option makes mpv use the master manifest URL for
+    formats like HLS and DASH, if available, allowing for video/audio selection
+    in runtime. It's disabled ("no") by default for performance reasons.
+
     ``^`` matches the beginning of the URL, ``$`` matches its end, and you
     should use ``%`` before any of the characters ``^$()%|,.[]*+-?`` to match
     that character.
diff --git a/player/lua/ytdl_hook.lua b/player/lua/ytdl_hook.lua
index 59ffbd3b94..3c5068bfd7 100644
--- a/player/lua/ytdl_hook.lua
+++ b/player/lua/ytdl_hook.lua
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ local options = require 'mp.options'
 
 local o = {
     exclude = "",
-    try_ytdl_first = false
+    try_ytdl_first = false,
+    use_manifests = false
 }
 options.read_options(o)
 
@@ -279,7 +280,7 @@ local function add_single_video(json)
     local reqfmts = json["requested_formats"]
 
     -- prefer manifest_url if present
-    if valid_manifest(json) then
+    if o.use_manifests and valid_manifest(json) then
         local mpd_url = reqfmts and reqfmts[1]["manifest_url"] or
             json["manifest_url"]
         if not mpd_url then