diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg_dec.c b/fftools/ffmpeg_dec.c
index b8bfae469f..e3ed0b3978 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg_dec.c
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg_dec.c
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ typedef struct DecoderPriv {
 
     // a combination of DECODER_FLAG_*, provided to dec_open()
     int                 flags;
+    int                 apply_cropping;
 
     enum AVPixelFormat  hwaccel_pix_fmt;
     enum HWAccelID      hwaccel_id;
@@ -404,6 +405,15 @@ static int video_frame_process(DecoderPriv *dp, AVFrame *frame)
     if (dp->sar_override.num)
         frame->sample_aspect_ratio = dp->sar_override;
 
+    if (dp->apply_cropping) {
+        // lavfi does not require aligned frame data
+        int ret = av_frame_apply_cropping(frame, AV_FRAME_CROP_UNALIGNED);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            av_log(dp, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Error applying decoder cropping\n");
+            return ret;
+        }
+    }
+
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1214,6 +1224,10 @@ static int dec_open(DecoderPriv *dp, AVDictionary **dec_opts,
     if (o->flags & DECODER_FLAG_BITEXACT)
         dp->dec_ctx->flags |= AV_CODEC_FLAG_BITEXACT;
 
+    // we apply cropping outselves
+    dp->apply_cropping          = dp->dec_ctx->apply_cropping;
+    dp->dec_ctx->apply_cropping = 0;
+
     if ((ret = avcodec_open2(dp->dec_ctx, codec, NULL)) < 0) {
         av_log(dp, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Error while opening decoder: %s\n",
                av_err2str(ret));
diff --git a/tests/fate/h264.mak b/tests/fate/h264.mak
index 674054560b..88f06d7b15 100644
--- a/tests/fate/h264.mak
+++ b/tests/fate/h264.mak
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ fate-h264-conformance-ci1_ft_b:                   CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAM
 fate-h264-conformance-ci_mw_d:                    CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CI_MW_D.264
 fate-h264-conformance-cvbs3_sony_c:               CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CVBS3_Sony_C.jsv
 fate-h264-conformance-cvcanlma2_sony_c:           CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CVCANLMA2_Sony_C.jsv
-fate-h264-conformance-cvfc1_sony_c:               CMD = framecrc -flags unaligned -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CVFC1_Sony_C.jsv
+fate-h264-conformance-cvfc1_sony_c:               CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CVFC1_Sony_C.jsv
 fate-h264-conformance-cvfi1_sony_d:               CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CVFI1_Sony_D.jsv
 fate-h264-conformance-cvfi1_sva_c:                CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CVFI1_SVA_C.264
 fate-h264-conformance-cvfi2_sony_h:               CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/h264-conformance/CVFI2_Sony_H.jsv
diff --git a/tests/fate/hevc.mak b/tests/fate/hevc.mak
index 4889ee8237..720603c112 100644
--- a/tests/fate/hevc.mak
+++ b/tests/fate/hevc.mak
@@ -200,8 +200,8 @@ $(HEVC_TESTS_444_8BIT): SCALE_OPTS := -pix_fmt yuv444p
 $(HEVC_TESTS_10BIT): SCALE_OPTS := -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -vf scale
 $(HEVC_TESTS_422_10BIT) $(HEVC_TESTS_422_10BIN): SCALE_OPTS := -pix_fmt yuv422p10le -vf scale
 $(HEVC_TESTS_444_12BIT): SCALE_OPTS := -pix_fmt yuv444p12le -vf scale
-fate-hevc-conformance-%: CMD = framecrc -flags unaligned -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc-conformance/$(subst fate-hevc-conformance-,,$(@)).bit $(SCALE_OPTS)
-$(HEVC_TESTS_422_10BIN): CMD = framecrc -flags unaligned -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc-conformance/$(subst fate-hevc-conformance-,,$(@)).bin $(SCALE_OPTS)
+fate-hevc-conformance-%: CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc-conformance/$(subst fate-hevc-conformance-,,$(@)).bit $(SCALE_OPTS)
+$(HEVC_TESTS_422_10BIN): CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc-conformance/$(subst fate-hevc-conformance-,,$(@)).bin $(SCALE_OPTS)
 
 FATE_HEVC-$(call FRAMECRC, HEVC, HEVC, HEVC_PARSER) += $(HEVC_TESTS_8BIT) $(HEVC_TESTS_444_8BIT)
 FATE_HEVC-$(call FRAMECRC, HEVC, HEVC, HEVC_PARSER SCALE_FILTER) +=         \
@@ -252,10 +252,10 @@ FATE_HEVC_FFPROBE-$(call DEMDEC, MOV, HEVC) += fate-hevc-dv-rpu
 fate-hevc-two-first-slice: CMD = threads=2 framemd5 -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc/two_first_slice.mp4 -sws_flags bitexact -t 00:02.00 -an
 FATE_HEVC-$(call FRAMEMD5, MOV, HEVC) += fate-hevc-two-first-slice
 
-fate-hevc-cabac-tudepth: CMD = framecrc -flags unaligned -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc/cbf_cr_cb_TUDepth_4_circle.h265 -pix_fmt yuv444p
+fate-hevc-cabac-tudepth: CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc/cbf_cr_cb_TUDepth_4_circle.h265 -pix_fmt yuv444p
 FATE_HEVC-$(call FRAMECRC, HEVC, HEVC) += fate-hevc-cabac-tudepth
 
-fate-hevc-small422chroma: CMD = framecrc -flags unaligned -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc/food.hevc -pix_fmt yuv422p10le -vf scale
+fate-hevc-small422chroma: CMD = framecrc -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/hevc/food.hevc -pix_fmt yuv422p10le -vf scale
 FATE_HEVC-$(call FRAMECRC, HEVC, HEVC, HEVC_PARSER SCALE_FILTER) += fate-hevc-small422chroma
 
 FATE_SAMPLES_AVCONV += $(FATE_HEVC-yes)
diff --git a/tests/fate/vvc.mak b/tests/fate/vvc.mak
index f5a45cc4ca..6cb3471b55 100644
--- a/tests/fate/vvc.mak
+++ b/tests/fate/vvc.mak
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ $(foreach VAR,$(FATE_VVC_VARS), $(eval VVC_TESTS_$(VAR) := $(addprefix fate-vvc-
 $(VVC_TESTS_8BIT): SCALE_OPTS := -pix_fmt yuv420p
 $(VVC_TESTS_10BIT): SCALE_OPTS := -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -vf scale
 $(VVC_TESTS_444_10BIT): SCALE_OPTS := -pix_fmt yuv444p10le -vf scale
-fate-vvc-conformance-%: CMD = framecrc -flags unaligned -c:v vvc -strict experimental -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/vvc-conformance/$(subst fate-vvc-conformance-,,$(@)).bit $(SCALE_OPTS)
+fate-vvc-conformance-%: CMD = framecrc -c:v vvc -strict experimental -i $(TARGET_SAMPLES)/vvc-conformance/$(subst fate-vvc-conformance-,,$(@)).bit $(SCALE_OPTS)
 
 FATE_VVC-$(call FRAMECRC, VVC, VVC, VVC_PARSER) += $(VVC_TESTS_8BIT)
 FATE_VVC-$(call FRAMECRC, VVC, VVC, VVC_PARSER SCALE_FILTER) +=            \