diff --git a/libswscale/graph.c b/libswscale/graph.c
index 941ef1cb8a..cd4498c91e 100644
--- a/libswscale/graph.c
+++ b/libswscale/graph.c
@@ -658,11 +658,20 @@ static int add_convert_pass(SwsGraph *graph, const SwsFormat *src,
                             const SwsFormat *dst, SwsPass *input,
                             SwsPass **output)
 {
+    SwsContext *ctx = graph->ctx;
     int ret;
 
-    ret = add_ops_convert_pass(graph, src, dst, input, output);
-    if (ret == AVERROR(ENOTSUP))
+    if (ctx->flags & SWS_UNSTABLE) {
+        /* Prefer unstable ops backend over legacy backend */
+        ret = add_ops_convert_pass(graph, src, dst, input, output);
+        if (ret == AVERROR(ENOTSUP))
+            ret = add_legacy_sws_pass(graph, src, dst, input, output);
+    } else {
+        /* Prefer legacy backend for stability reasons */
         ret = add_legacy_sws_pass(graph, src, dst, input, output);
+        if (ret == AVERROR(ENOTSUP))
+            ret = add_ops_convert_pass(graph, src, dst, input, output);
+    }
 
     return ret;
 }
diff --git a/libswscale/swscale.h b/libswscale/swscale.h
index 8954f1a7d8..9b53ebbdff 100644
--- a/libswscale/swscale.h
+++ b/libswscale/swscale.h
@@ -180,9 +180,9 @@ typedef enum SwsFlags {
     SWS_BITEXACT       = 1 << 19,
 
     /**
-     * Allow using experimental new code paths. This may be faster, slower,
-     * or produce different output, with semantics subject to change at any
-     * point in time. For testing and debugging purposes only.
+     * Allow/prefer using experimental new code paths. This may be faster,
+     * slower, or produce different output, with semantics subject to change
+     * at any point in time. For testing and debugging purposes only.
      */
     SWS_UNSTABLE = 1 << 20,