diff --git a/lib/core.c b/lib/core.c
index d96cacaca9..e9ae904698 100644
--- a/lib/core.c
+++ b/lib/core.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <vlc_modules.h>
 #include <vlc/vlc.h>
 
+#include <vlc_preparser.h>
 #include <vlc_interface.h>
 
 #include <stdarg.h>
@@ -78,6 +79,10 @@ libvlc_instance_t * libvlc_new( int argc, const char *const *argv )
     p_new->p_libvlc_int = p_libvlc_int;
     vlc_atomic_rc_init( &p_new->ref_count );
     p_new->p_callback_list = NULL;
+
+    vlc_mutex_init(&p_new->lazy_init_lock);
+    p_new->parser = NULL;
+
     return p_new;
 
 error:
@@ -99,6 +104,10 @@ void libvlc_release( libvlc_instance_t *p_instance )
     if(vlc_atomic_rc_dec( &p_instance->ref_count ))
     {
         libvlc_Quit( p_instance->p_libvlc_int );
+
+        if (p_instance->parser != NULL)
+            vlc_preparser_Delete(p_instance->parser);
+
         libvlc_InternalCleanup( p_instance->p_libvlc_int );
         libvlc_InternalDestroy( p_instance->p_libvlc_int );
         free( p_instance );
@@ -235,4 +244,31 @@ int64_t libvlc_clock(void)
     return US_FROM_VLC_TICK(vlc_tick_now());
 }
 
+vlc_preparser_t *libvlc_get_preparser(libvlc_instance_t *instance)
+{
+    vlc_mutex_lock(&instance->lazy_init_lock);
+    vlc_preparser_t *parser = instance->parser;
+
+    if (parser == NULL)
+    {
+        /* Temporary: the 2 following variables will be configured directly
+         * with future libvlc_parser API */
+        int max_threads = var_InheritInteger(instance->p_libvlc_int, "preparse-threads");
+        if (max_threads < 1)
+            max_threads = 1;
+
+        vlc_tick_t default_timeout =
+            VLC_TICK_FROM_MS(var_InheritInteger(instance->p_libvlc_int, "preparse-timeout"));
+        if (default_timeout < 0)
+            default_timeout = 0;
+
+        parser = instance->parser =
+            vlc_preparser_New(VLC_OBJECT(instance->p_libvlc_int), max_threads,
+                              default_timeout);
+    }
+    vlc_mutex_unlock(&instance->lazy_init_lock);
+
+    return parser;
+}
+
 const char vlc_module_name[] = "libvlc";
diff --git a/lib/libvlc_internal.h b/lib/libvlc_internal.h
index bd82bfb4d0..652f3ca985 100644
--- a/lib/libvlc_internal.h
+++ b/lib/libvlc_internal.h
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@
 #include <vlc_arrays.h>
 #include <vlc_threads.h>
 
+typedef struct vlc_preparser_t vlc_preparser_t;
+
 /* Note well: this header is included from LibVLC core.
  * Therefore, static inline functions MUST NOT call LibVLC functions here
  * (this can cause linkage failure on some platforms). */
@@ -99,6 +101,10 @@ struct libvlc_instance_t
     libvlc_int_t *p_libvlc_int;
     vlc_atomic_rc_t ref_count;
     struct libvlc_callback_entry_list_t *p_callback_list;
+
+    vlc_mutex_t lazy_init_lock;
+    vlc_preparser_t *parser;
+
     struct
     {
         void (*cb) (void *, int, const libvlc_log_t *, const char *, va_list);
@@ -144,4 +150,6 @@ static inline vlc_tick_t vlc_tick_from_libvlc_time(libvlc_time_t time)
     return VLC_TICK_FROM_MS(time);
 }
 
+vlc_preparser_t *libvlc_get_preparser(libvlc_instance_t *instance);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/media.c b/lib/media.c
index fe396f1db5..eef9386cc0 100644
--- a/lib/media.c
+++ b/lib/media.c
@@ -740,8 +740,7 @@ int libvlc_media_parse_request(libvlc_instance_t *inst, libvlc_media_t *media,
          || expected == libvlc_media_parsed_status_done)
             return -1;
 
-    libvlc_int_t *libvlc = inst->p_libvlc_int;
-    vlc_preparser_t *parser = libvlc_GetMainPreparser(libvlc);
+    vlc_preparser_t *parser = libvlc_get_preparser(inst);
     if (unlikely(parser == NULL))
         return -1;
 
@@ -789,10 +788,9 @@ int libvlc_media_parse_request(libvlc_instance_t *inst, libvlc_media_t *media,
 void
 libvlc_media_parse_stop(libvlc_instance_t *inst, libvlc_media_t *media)
 {
-    libvlc_int_t *libvlc = inst->p_libvlc_int;
-    vlc_preparser_t *parser = libvlc_GetMainPreparser(libvlc);
-    if (unlikely(parser != NULL))
-        vlc_preparser_Cancel(parser, media);
+    vlc_preparser_t *parser = libvlc_get_preparser(inst);
+    assert(parser != NULL);
+    vlc_preparser_Cancel(parser, media);
 }
 
 // Get Parsed status for media descriptor object