diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a840eebd..f80193b3 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -116,6 +116,12 @@ AS_IF([test x"$missing_gstreamer_elements" = xyes],
     [SPICE_WARNING([The GStreamer video encoder can be built but may not work.])
 ])
 
+if test "x$have_gstreamer_0_10" = "xyes" -o "x$have_gstreamer_1_0" = "xyes"; then
+    PKG_CHECK_MODULES(ORC, orc-0.4)
+    AC_SUBST(ORC_CFLAGS)
+    AC_SUBST(ORC_LIBS)
+fi
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([automated_tests],
               AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-automated-tests], [Enable automated tests using spicy-screenshot (part of spice-gtk)]),,
               [enable_automated_tests="no"])
diff --git a/server/Makefile.am b/server/Makefile.am
index ef8d31fc..5d5590af 100644
--- a/server/Makefile.am
+++ b/server/Makefile.am
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS =					\
 	$(SSL_CFLAGS)				\
 	$(VISIBILITY_HIDDEN_CFLAGS)		\
 	$(WARN_CFLAGS)				\
+	$(ORC_CFLAGS)				\
 	$(NULL)
 
 noinst_LTLIBRARIES = libserver.la
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ libserver_la_LIBADD =							\
 	$(SSL_LIBS)							\
 	$(Z_LIBS)							\
 	$(SPICE_NONPKGCONFIG_LIBS)					\
+	$(ORC_LIBS)							\
 	$(NULL)
 
 libspice_serverincludedir = $(includedir)/spice-server
diff --git a/server/gstreamer-encoder.c b/server/gstreamer-encoder.c
index bb4f27ba..b2ddfea9 100644
--- a/server/gstreamer-encoder.c
+++ b/server/gstreamer-encoder.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <gst/app/gstappsrc.h>
 #include <gst/app/gstappsink.h>
 #include <gst/video/video.h>
+#include <orc/orcprogram.h>
 
 #include "red-common.h"
 #include "video-encoder.h"
@@ -1702,6 +1703,30 @@ static void spice_gst_encoder_get_stats(VideoEncoder *video_encoder,
     }
 }
 
+/* Check if ORC library can work.
+ * ORC library is used quite extensively by GStreamer
+ * to generate code dynamically. If ORC cannot work, GStreamer
+ * will abort(3) the entire process.
+ */
+static bool orc_check(void)
+{
+    static bool orc_checked = false;
+    static bool orc_dynamic_code_ok = false;
+
+    if (SPICE_UNLIKELY(!orc_checked)) {
+        OrcCode *code = orc_code_new();
+        if (code) {
+            /* allocating 0 byte for code makes the function not crash
+             * but it does all the initializations and checks */
+            orc_code_allocate_codemem(code, 0);
+            orc_dynamic_code_ok = code->code != NULL;
+            orc_code_free(code);
+        }
+        orc_checked = true;
+    }
+    return orc_dynamic_code_ok;
+}
+
 VideoEncoder *gstreamer_encoder_new(SpiceVideoCodecType codec_type,
                                     uint64_t starting_bit_rate,
                                     VideoEncoderRateControlCbs *cbs,
@@ -1721,6 +1746,11 @@ VideoEncoder *gstreamer_encoder_new(SpiceVideoCodecType codec_type,
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    // avoid aborting the process
+    if (!orc_check()) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     SpiceGstEncoder *encoder = spice_new0(SpiceGstEncoder, 1);
     encoder->base.destroy = spice_gst_encoder_destroy;
     encoder->base.encode_frame = spice_gst_encoder_encode_frame;