diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 234cffb8c..30d404918 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ Misc:
  - FFmpeg: Add looping option for GIF/APNG
  - Qt: Renderer can be changed while a game is running
  - Qt: Fix non-SDL build (fixes mgba.io/i/1656)
+ - SDL: Use DirectSound audio driver by default on Windows
  - Switch: Make OpenGL scale adjustable while running
 
 0.8.0: (2020-01-21)
diff --git a/src/platform/sdl/sdl-audio.c b/src/platform/sdl/sdl-audio.c
index ab0bd830b..f1666aa4e 100644
--- a/src/platform/sdl/sdl-audio.c
+++ b/src/platform/sdl/sdl-audio.c
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ mLOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(SDL_AUDIO, "SDL Audio", "platform.sdl.audio");
 static void _mSDLAudioCallback(void* context, Uint8* data, int len);
 
 bool mSDLInitAudio(struct mSDLAudio* context, struct mCoreThread* threadContext) {
+#if defined(_WIN32) && SDL_VERSION_ATLEAST(2, 0, 8)
+	if (!getenv("SDL_AUDIODRIVER")) {
+		_putenv_s("SDL_AUDIODRIVER", "directsound");
+	}
+#endif
 	if (SDL_InitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_AUDIO) < 0) {
 		mLOG(SDL_AUDIO, ERROR, "Could not initialize SDL sound system: %s", SDL_GetError());
 		return false;