diff --git a/Config.in.legacy b/Config.in.legacy
index fea7f79ec5..e10fd95f8d 100644
--- a/Config.in.legacy
+++ b/Config.in.legacy
@@ -146,6 +146,13 @@ endif
 
 comment "Legacy options removed in 2026.02"
 
+config BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_WITH_FFMPEG
+	bool "opencv3 ffmpeg support removed"
+	select BR2_LEGACY
+	help
+	  Support for OpenCV 3 ffmpeg support has been removed as it
+	  was no longer compatible with recent versions of ffmpeg.
+
 config BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_WITH_PROTOBUF
 	bool "opencv3 protobuf support removed"
 	select BR2_LEGACY
diff --git a/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk b/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk
index 4c841d7a94..983a87eb2e 100644
--- a/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk
+++ b/package/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.mk
@@ -297,11 +297,11 @@ else
 FFMPEG_CONF_OPTS += --disable-mmal --disable-omx --disable-omx-rpi
 endif
 
-# To avoid a circular dependency only use opencv if opencv itself does
-# not depend on ffmpeg.
-ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_LIB_IMGPROC)x$(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_WITH_FFMPEG),yx)
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_LIB_IMGPROC),y)
 FFMPEG_CONF_OPTS += --enable-libopencv
 FFMPEG_DEPENDENCIES += opencv3
+# To avoid a circular dependency only use opencv if opencv itself does
+# not depend on ffmpeg.
 else ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV4_LIB_IMGPROC)x$(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV4_WITH_FFMPEG),yx)
 FFMPEG_CONF_OPTS += --enable-libopencv \
 	--extra-cflags=-I$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/include/opencv4
diff --git a/package/opencv3/Config.in b/package/opencv3/Config.in
index 6c4d4e9c8a..ad8a075729 100644
--- a/package/opencv3/Config.in
+++ b/package/opencv3/Config.in
@@ -232,15 +232,6 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_BUILD_PERF_TESTS
 
 comment "3rd party support"
 
-config BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_WITH_FFMPEG
-	bool "ffmpeg support"
-	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_FFMPEG_ARCH_SUPPORTS
-	select BR2_PACKAGE_BZIP2
-	select BR2_PACKAGE_FFMPEG
-	select BR2_PACKAGE_FFMPEG_SWSCALE
-	help
-	  Use ffmpeg from the target system.
-
 config BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_WITH_GSTREAMER1
 	bool "gstreamer-1.x"
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU # gstreamer1 -> libglib2
diff --git a/package/opencv3/opencv3.mk b/package/opencv3/opencv3.mk
index 3fcf2543a7..9e488bed0c 100644
--- a/package/opencv3/opencv3.mk
+++ b/package/opencv3/opencv3.mk
@@ -212,6 +212,7 @@ OPENCV3_CONF_OPTS += \
 	-DWITH_1394=OFF \
 	-DWITH_CLP=OFF \
 	-DWITH_EIGEN=OFF \
+	-DWITH_FFMPEG=OFF \
 	-DWITH_GDAL=OFF \
 	-DWITH_GPHOTO2=OFF \
 	-DWITH_GSTREAMER_0_10=OFF \
@@ -232,13 +233,6 @@ OPENCV3_CONF_OPTS += \
 
 OPENCV3_DEPENDENCIES += host-pkgconf zlib
 
-ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_WITH_FFMPEG),y)
-OPENCV3_CONF_OPTS += -DWITH_FFMPEG=ON
-OPENCV3_DEPENDENCIES += ffmpeg bzip2
-else
-OPENCV3_CONF_OPTS += -DWITH_FFMPEG=OFF
-endif
-
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_OPENCV3_WITH_GSTREAMER1),y)
 OPENCV3_CONF_OPTS += -DWITH_GSTREAMER=ON
 OPENCV3_DEPENDENCIES += gstreamer1 gst1-plugins-base