diff --git a/js&css/extension/init.js b/js&css/extension/init.js
index 2f2609eb6..8b47af74d 100644
--- a/js&css/extension/init.js
+++ b/js&css/extension/init.js
@@ -71,6 +71,18 @@ function finishPageWorldInit() {
 	extension.events.trigger('init');
 }
 
+function syncPageWorldAutoplayDisable(callback) {
+	chrome.storage.local.get('player_autoplay_disable', function (items) {
+		if (items.player_autoplay_disable === true) {
+			localStorage['it-player-autoplay-disable'] = 'true';
+		} else {
+			localStorage.removeItem('it-player-autoplay-disable');
+		}
+
+		callback();
+	});
+}
+
 const pageWorldFiles = [
 	'/js&css/web-accessible/core.js',
 	'/js&css/web-accessible/functions.js',
@@ -89,27 +101,29 @@ const pageWorldFiles = [
 	'/js&css/web-accessible/init.js'
 ];
 
-if ((navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Safari') !== -1
-	|| (typeof browser !== 'undefined' && browser.runtime?.getURL('')?.startsWith('safari-')))
-	&& (!/Chrom|Android|Windows|Linux/.test(navigator.userAgent)
-		|| /iPhone|iPad/.test(navigator.userAgent)
-	)
-) {
-
-	chrome.runtime.sendMessage({
-		action: 'inject-main-world',
-		files: pageWorldFiles
-	}, function (response) {
-		if (response && response.ok) {
-			finishPageWorldInit();
-		} else {
-			console.warn('Falling back to DOM injection for page-world scripts', chrome.runtime.lastError?.message || response?.error);
-			extension.inject(pageWorldFiles.slice(), finishPageWorldInit);
-		}
-	});
-} else {
-	extension.inject(pageWorldFiles.slice(), finishPageWorldInit);
-}
+syncPageWorldAutoplayDisable(function () {
+	if ((navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Safari') !== -1
+		|| (typeof browser !== 'undefined' && browser.runtime?.getURL('')?.startsWith('safari-')))
+		&& (!/Chrom|Android|Windows|Linux/.test(navigator.userAgent)
+			|| /iPhone|iPad/.test(navigator.userAgent)
+		)
+	) {
+
+		chrome.runtime.sendMessage({
+			action: 'inject-main-world',
+			files: pageWorldFiles
+		}, function (response) {
+			if (response && response.ok) {
+				finishPageWorldInit();
+			} else {
+				console.warn('Falling back to DOM injection for page-world scripts', chrome.runtime.lastError?.message || response?.error);
+				extension.inject(pageWorldFiles.slice(), finishPageWorldInit);
+			}
+		});
+	} else {
+		extension.inject(pageWorldFiles.slice(), finishPageWorldInit);
+	}
+});
 
 document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
 	extension.domReady = true;
diff --git a/js&css/web-accessible/core.js b/js&css/web-accessible/core.js
index 80059614b..426f7aef5 100644
--- a/js&css/web-accessible/core.js
+++ b/js&css/web-accessible/core.js
@@ -93,6 +93,28 @@ var ImprovedTube = {
 	defaultApiKey: 'AIzaSyCXRRCFwKAXOiF1JkUBmibzxJF1cPuKNwA'
 };
 
+ImprovedTube.syncAutoplayDisableLocalStorage = function () {
+	if (ImprovedTube.storage.player_autoplay_disable === true) {
+		localStorage['it-player-autoplay-disable'] = 'true';
+	} else {
+		localStorage.removeItem('it-player-autoplay-disable');
+	}
+};
+
+ImprovedTube.shouldPreventInitialAutoplay = function (video) {
+	if (ImprovedTube.user_interacted || !location.href.includes('/watch?') || location.href.includes('list=')) {
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	if (localStorage['it-player-autoplay-disable'] !== 'true' && ImprovedTube.storage.player_autoplay_disable !== true) {
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	var player = video.closest && (video.closest('.html5-video-player') || video.closest('#movie_player'));
+
+	return !player || !player.classList || !player.classList.contains('ad-showing');
+};
+
 /*--------------------------------------------------------------
 CODEC || 30FPS
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -125,6 +147,29 @@ if (localStorage['it-codec'] || localStorage['it-player30fps']) {
 	}
 };
 
+HTMLMediaElement.prototype.play = (function (original) {
+	if (original.improvedTubeInitialAutoplayGuard) {
+		return original;
+	}
+
+	function play() {
+		if (ImprovedTube.shouldPreventInitialAutoplay(this)) {
+			try {
+				this.pause();
+			} catch (error) {
+			}
+
+			return Promise.resolve();
+		}
+
+		return original.apply(this, arguments);
+	}
+
+	play.improvedTubeInitialAutoplayGuard = true;
+
+	return play;
+})(HTMLMediaElement.prototype.play);
+
 /*--------------------------------------------------------------
 # MESSAGES
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -182,6 +227,7 @@ document.addEventListener('it-message-from-extension', function () {
 
 		if (message.action === 'storage-loaded') {
 			ImprovedTube.storage = message.storage;
+			ImprovedTube.syncAutoplayDisableLocalStorage();
 
 			if (ImprovedTube.storage.block_vp9 || ImprovedTube.storage.block_av1 || ImprovedTube.storage.block_h264) {
 				let atlas = { block_vp9: 'vp9|vp09', block_h264: 'avc1', block_av1: 'av01' },
@@ -233,6 +279,9 @@ document.addEventListener('it-message-from-extension', function () {
 					localStorage.removeItem('it-player30fps');
 				}
 			}
+			if (message.key === 'player_autoplay_disable') {
+				ImprovedTube.syncAutoplayDisableLocalStorage();
+			}
 			switch (camelized_key) {
 				case 'blocklist':
 				case 'blocklistActivate':
diff --git a/tests/unit/autoplay-disable.test.js b/tests/unit/autoplay-disable.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13eafb7c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/autoplay-disable.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+describe('initial autoplay guard', () => {
+	let originalPlay;
+	let video;
+
+	function loadCore() {
+		jest.resetModules();
+
+		const storage = {};
+		storage.removeItem = key => {
+			delete storage[key];
+		};
+
+		global.localStorage = storage;
+		global.location = {
+			href: 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcdefghijk'
+		};
+		global.window = {};
+		global.CustomEvent = function CustomEvent(type) {
+			this.type = type;
+		};
+		global.document = {
+			addEventListener: jest.fn(),
+			createElement: jest.fn(() => ({style: {}})),
+			dispatchEvent: jest.fn(),
+			documentElement: {
+				appendChild: jest.fn()
+			},
+			querySelector: jest.fn()
+		};
+
+		originalPlay = jest.fn(() => 'played');
+		global.HTMLMediaElement = function HTMLMediaElement() {};
+		global.HTMLMediaElement.prototype.play = originalPlay;
+
+		require('../../js&css/web-accessible/core.js');
+
+		video = {
+			closest: jest.fn(() => ({
+				classList: {
+					contains: jest.fn(() => false)
+				}
+			})),
+			pause: jest.fn()
+		};
+	}
+
+	beforeEach(() => {
+		loadCore();
+	});
+
+	afterEach(() => {
+		delete global.CustomEvent;
+		delete global.document;
+		delete global.HTMLMediaElement;
+		delete global.localStorage;
+		delete global.location;
+		delete global.window;
+	});
+
+	test('prevents the first direct watch-page play when autoplay is disabled', async () => {
+		localStorage['it-player-autoplay-disable'] = 'true';
+
+		await expect(HTMLMediaElement.prototype.play.call(video)).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+
+		expect(video.pause).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+		expect(originalPlay).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+	});
+
+	test('allows playback when autoplay is not disabled', () => {
+		expect(HTMLMediaElement.prototype.play.call(video)).toBe('played');
+
+		expect(video.pause).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+		expect(originalPlay).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+	});
+});