diff --git a/starboard/android/apk/app/src/main/java/dev/cobalt/media/MediaCodecBridge.java b/starboard/android/apk/app/src/main/java/dev/cobalt/media/MediaCodecBridge.java
index 8164adda1569..879c8d9c574b 100644
--- a/starboard/android/apk/app/src/main/java/dev/cobalt/media/MediaCodecBridge.java
+++ b/starboard/android/apk/app/src/main/java/dev/cobalt/media/MediaCodecBridge.java
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 import android.media.MediaFormat;
 import android.os.Build;
 import android.os.Bundle;
+import android.os.Handler;
+import android.os.HandlerThread;
 import android.view.Surface;
 import androidx.annotation.Nullable;
 import dev.cobalt.util.Log;
@@ -93,6 +95,9 @@ class MediaCodecBridge {
   // which would cause GC cycles long enough to impact playback.
   private final MediaCodec.BufferInfo info = new MediaCodec.BufferInfo();
 
+  private final Handler mHandler;
+  private final HandlerThread mHandlerThread;
+
   // Type of bitrate adjustment for video encoder.
   public enum BitrateAdjustmentTypes {
     // No adjustment - video encoder has no known bitrate problem.
@@ -461,6 +466,9 @@ private MediaCodecBridge(
     mLastPresentationTimeUs = 0;
     mFlushed = true;
     mBitrateAdjustmentType = bitrateAdjustmentType;
+    mHandlerThread = new HandlerThread("DecodeHandler");
+    mHandlerThread.start();
+    mHandler = new Handler(mHandlerThread.getLooper());
     mCallback =
         new MediaCodec.Callback() {
           @Override
@@ -525,7 +533,7 @@ public void onOutputFormatChanged(MediaCodec codec, MediaFormat format) {
             }
           }
         };
-    mMediaCodec.setCallback(mCallback);
+    mMediaCodec.setCallback(mCallback, mHandler);
 
     // TODO: support OnFrameRenderedListener for non tunnel mode
     if (tunnelModeAudioSessionId != -1) {
@@ -806,6 +814,7 @@ public void release() {
       Log.e(TAG, "Cannot release media codec", e);
     }
     mMediaCodec = null;
+    mHandlerThread.quitSafely();
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unused")