diff --git a/test/unitTest/Makefile.am b/test/unitTest/Makefile.am
index 21cbe74b31e313bec933447267398f00d4613a7a..d4d63298ee1f36d8c25a5083577806bdc9f55f99 100644
--- a/test/unitTest/Makefile.am
+++ b/test/unitTest/Makefile.am
@@ -67,6 +67,13 @@ ut_video_input_SOURCES = media/video/testVideo_input.cpp
 check_PROGRAMS += ut_media_encoder
 ut_media_encoder_SOURCES = media/test_media_encoder.cpp
 
+#
+# media_decoder
+#
+check_PROGRAMS += ut_media_decoder # no reliable way to get a file
+ut_media_decoder_SOURCES = media/test_media_decoder.cpp
+
+#
 # media_filter
 #
 check_PROGRAMS += ut_media_filter
diff --git a/test/unitTest/media/test_media_decoder.cpp b/test/unitTest/media/test_media_decoder.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5e6c836bd50888b954bc30532bf7fb32817ba023
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unitTest/media/test_media_decoder.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+/*
+ *  Copyright (C) 2018 Savoir-faire Linux Inc.
+ *
+ *  Author: Philippe Gorley <philippe.gorley@savoirfairelinux.com>
+ *
+ *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ *  Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301 USA.
+ */
+
+#include <cppunit/TestAssert.h>
+#include <cppunit/TestFixture.h>
+#include <cppunit/extensions/HelperMacros.h>
+
+#include "dring.h"
+#include "fileutils.h"
+#include "libav_deps.h"
+#include "media_buffer.h"
+#include "media_decoder.h"
+#include "media_device.h"
+#include "media_io_handle.h"
+
+#include "../../test_runner.h"
+
+namespace ring { namespace test {
+
+class MediaDecoderTest : public CppUnit::TestFixture {
+public:
+    static std::string name() { return "media_decoder"; }
+
+    void setUp();
+    void tearDown();
+
+private:
+    void testAudioFile();
+
+    CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE(MediaDecoderTest);
+    CPPUNIT_TEST(testAudioFile);
+    CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE_END();
+
+    void writeWav(); // writes a minimal wav file to test decoding
+
+    std::unique_ptr<MediaDecoder> decoder_;
+    std::string filename_ = "test.wav";
+};
+
+CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE_NAMED_REGISTRATION(MediaDecoderTest, MediaDecoderTest::name());
+
+void
+MediaDecoderTest::setUp()
+{
+    DRing::init(DRing::InitFlag(DRing::DRING_FLAG_DEBUG | DRing::DRING_FLAG_CONSOLE_LOG));
+    libav_utils::ring_avcodec_init();
+    decoder_.reset(new MediaDecoder);
+}
+
+void
+MediaDecoderTest::tearDown()
+{
+    fileutils::remove(filename_);
+    DRing::fini();
+}
+
+void
+MediaDecoderTest::testAudioFile()
+{
+    if (!avcodec_find_decoder(AV_CODEC_ID_PCM_S16LE)
+        || !avcodec_find_decoder(AV_CODEC_ID_PCM_S16BE))
+        return; // no way to test the wav file, since it is in pcm signed 16
+
+    writeWav();
+
+    DeviceParams dev;
+    dev.input = filename_;
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(decoder_->openInput(dev) >= 0);
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(decoder_->setupFromAudioData() >= 0);
+
+    bool done = false;
+    while (!done) {
+        AudioFrame frame;
+        switch (decoder_->decode(frame)) {
+        case MediaDecoder::Status::FrameFinished:
+            CPPUNIT_ASSERT(frame.pointer()->sample_rate == decoder_->getStream().sampleRate);
+            CPPUNIT_ASSERT(frame.pointer()->channels == decoder_->getStream().nbChannels);
+            break;
+        case MediaDecoder::Status::DecodeError:
+        case MediaDecoder::Status::ReadError:
+            CPPUNIT_ASSERT_MESSAGE("Decode error", false);
+            done = true;
+            break;
+        case MediaDecoder::Status::EOFError:
+            done = true;
+            break;
+        case MediaDecoder::Status::Success:
+        default:
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(done);
+}
+
+// write bytes to file using native endianness
+template<typename Word>
+static std::ostream& write(std::ostream& os, Word value, unsigned size)
+{
+    union {
+        uint32_t i;
+        char c[4];
+    } big = {0x01020304};
+
+    // big endian if 0x01 is the first byte
+    if (big.c[0] == 1) {
+        while (size)
+            os.put(static_cast<char>((value >> (8 * --size)) & 0xFF));
+        return os;
+    } else {
+        for (; size; --size, value >>= 8)
+            os.put(static_cast<char>(value & 0xFF));
+        return os;
+    }
+}
+
+void
+MediaDecoderTest::writeWav()
+{
+    auto f = std::ofstream(filename_, std::ios::binary);
+    f << "RIFF----WAVEfmt ";
+    write(f, 16, 4); // no extension data
+    write(f, 1, 2); // PCM integer samples
+    write(f, 1, 2); // channels
+    write(f, 8000, 4); // sample rate
+    write(f, 8000 * 1 * 2, 4); // sample rate * channels * bytes per sample
+    write(f, 4, 2); // data block size
+    write(f, 2 * 8, 2); // bits per sample
+    size_t dataChunk = f.tellp();
+    f << "data----";
+
+    // fill file with silence
+    // make sure there is more than 1 AVFrame in the file
+    for (int i = 0; i < 8192; ++i)
+        write(f, 0, 2);
+
+    size_t length = f.tellp();
+    f.seekp(dataChunk + 4);
+    write(f, length - dataChunk + 8, 4);
+    f.seekp(4);
+    write(f, length - 8, 4);
+}
+
+}} // namespace ring::test
+
+RING_TEST_RUNNER(ring::test::MediaDecoderTest::name());