diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index f3b4a617b..395685a59 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
   header set mkvmerge will now keep that header even for codecs that don't
   require it for decoding. Implements #3009.
 
+## Build system changes
+
+* libMatroska v1.6.3 is now required.
+
 
 # Version 53.0.0 "Fool's Gold" 2021-01-30
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 958b93a19..ebeb011e0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ These libraries are:
   PCRE2 library. Version 10.32.1 or newer is required.
 
 - [libEBML v1.4.1](http://dl.matroska.org/downloads/libebml/) or later
-  and [libMatroska v1.6.1](http://dl.matroska.org/downloads/libmatroska/)
+  and [libMatroska v1.6.3](http://dl.matroska.org/downloads/libmatroska/)
   or later for low-level access to Matroska files. Instructions on how to
   compile them are a bit further down in this file.
 
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ libraries. It will use them if no version is found on the system.
 
 Start by either downloading releases of [libEBML
 v1.4.1](http://dl.matroska.org/downloads/libebml/) and [libMatroska
-v1.6.1](http://dl.matroska.org/downloads/libmatroska/) or by getting
+v1.6.3](http://dl.matroska.org/downloads/libmatroska/) or by getting
 fresh copies from their git repositories:
 
     git clone https://github.com/Matroska-Org/libebml.git
diff --git a/ac/matroska.m4 b/ac/matroska.m4
index b2b912650..348dfc17a 100644
--- a/ac/matroska.m4
+++ b/ac/matroska.m4
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ dnl
 
 EBML_MATROSKA_INTERNAL=no
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([EBML],[libebml >= 1.4.1],[],[EBML_MATROSKA_INTERNAL=yes])
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES([MATROSKA],[libmatroska >= 1.6.1],[],[EBML_MATROSKA_INTERNAL=yes])
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([MATROSKA],[libmatroska >= 1.6.3],[],[EBML_MATROSKA_INTERNAL=yes])
 
 if test x"$EBML_MATROSKA_INTERNAL" = xyes; then
   if ! test -f lib/libebml/ebml/EbmlTypes.h ; then