diff --git a/srcpkgs/mplayer/template b/srcpkgs/mplayer/template
index 8b1acdaf6d..7b2a0c27e7 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/mplayer/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/mplayer/template
@@ -33,9 +33,12 @@ do_configure() {
 	sed 's|-march=i486||g' -i configure
 
 	case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
-		i686*|x86_64*|ppc64*) configure_args+=" --enable-vdpau --enable-runtime-cpudetection";;
+		i686*|x86_64*|ppc*) configure_args+=" --enable-vdpau --enable-runtime-cpudetection";;
 	esac
 
+	# we enable runtime cpu detection for ppc, let the altivec bits build
+	export CFLAGS="${CFLAGS/-mno-altivec}"
+
 	./configure --prefix=/usr \
 		--disable-gui --disable-arts --disable-liblzo --disable-speex \
 		--disable-openal --disable-libdv --disable-musepack --disable-esd \