--- a/dom/media/directshow/DirectShowDecoder.cpp
+++ b/dom/media/directshow/DirectShowDecoder.cpp
@@ -40,17 +40,18 @@ DirectShowDecoder::GetSupportedCodecs(co
 
   return false;
 }
 
 /* static */
 bool
 DirectShowDecoder::IsEnabled()
 {
-  return Preferences::GetBool("media.directshow.enabled");
+  return CanDecodeMP3UsingDirectShow() &&
+         Preferences::GetBool("media.directshow.enabled");
 }
 
 DirectShowDecoder::DirectShowDecoder()
 {
   MOZ_COUNT_CTOR(DirectShowDecoder);
 }
 
 DirectShowDecoder::~DirectShowDecoder()

--- a/dom/media/directshow/DirectShowUtils.cpp
+++ b/dom/media/directshow/DirectShowUtils.cpp
@@ -203,20 +203,18 @@ CreateAndAddFilter(IGraphBuilder* aGraph
   }
 
   filter.forget(aOutFilter);
 
   return S_OK;
 }
 
 HRESULT
-AddMP3DMOWrapperFilter(IGraphBuilder* aGraph,
-                       IBaseFilter **aOutFilter)
+CreateMP3DMOWrapperFilter(IBaseFilter **aOutFilter)
 {
-  NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aGraph, E_POINTER);
   NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aOutFilter, E_POINTER);
   HRESULT hr;
 
   // Create the wrapper filter.
   nsRefPtr<IBaseFilter> filter;
   hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_DMOWrapperFilter,
                         nullptr,
                         CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
@@ -240,28 +238,73 @@ AddMP3DMOWrapperFilter(IGraphBuilder* aG
   if (FAILED(hr)) {
     // Can't instantiate MP3 DMO. It doesn't exist on Windows XP, we're
     // probably hitting that. Don't log warning to console, this is an
     // expected error.
     WARN("dmoWrapper Init failed, hr=%x", hr);
     return hr;
   }
 
+  return S_OK;
+}
+
+HRESULT
+AddMP3DMOWrapperFilter(IGraphBuilder* aGraph,
+                       IBaseFilter **aOutFilter)
+{
+  NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aGraph, E_POINTER);
+  NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aOutFilter, E_POINTER);
+  HRESULT hr;
+
+  // Create the wrapper filter.
+  nsRefPtr<IBaseFilter> filter;
+  hr = CreateMP3DMOWrapperFilter(getter_AddRefs(filter));
+  NS_ENSURE_TRUE(SUCCEEDED(hr), hr);
+
   // Add the wrapper filter to graph.
   hr = aGraph->AddFilter(filter, L"MP3 Decoder DMO");
   if (FAILED(hr)) {
     WARN("AddFilter failed, hr=%x", hr);
     return hr;
   }
 
   filter.forget(aOutFilter);
 
   return S_OK;
 }
 
+bool
+CanDecodeMP3UsingDirectShow()
+{
+  nsRefPtr<IBaseFilter> filter;
+
+  // Can we create the MP3 demuxer filter?
+  if (FAILED(CoCreateInstance(CLSID_MPEG1Splitter,
+                              nullptr,
+                              CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
+                              IID_IBaseFilter,
+                              getter_AddRefs(filter)))) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // Can we create either the WinXP MP3 decoder filter or the MP3 DMO decoder?
+  if (FAILED(CoCreateInstance(CLSID_MPEG_LAYER_3_DECODER_FILTER,
+                              nullptr,
+                              CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
+                              IID_IBaseFilter,
+                              getter_AddRefs(filter))) &&
+      FAILED(CreateMP3DMOWrapperFilter(getter_AddRefs(filter)))) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // Else, we can create all of the components we need. Assume
+  // DirectShow is going to work...
+  return true;
+}
+
 // Match a pin by pin direction and connection state.
 HRESULT
 MatchUnconnectedPin(IPin* aPin,
                     PIN_DIRECTION aPinDir,
                     bool *aOutMatches)
 {
   NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aPin, E_POINTER);
   NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aOutMatches, E_POINTER);

--- a/dom/media/directshow/DirectShowUtils.h
+++ b/dom/media/directshow/DirectShowUtils.h
@@ -110,11 +110,16 @@ inline double
 RefTimeToSeconds(const REFERENCE_TIME aRefTime)
 {
   return double(aRefTime) / 10000000;
 }
 
 const char*
 GetDirectShowGuidName(const GUID& aGuid);
 
+// Returns true if we can instantiate an MP3 demuxer and decoder filters.
+// Use this to detect whether MP3 support is installed.
+bool
+CanDecodeMP3UsingDirectShow();
+
 } // namespace mozilla
 
 #endif