diff --git a/app/src/scrcpy.c b/app/src/scrcpy.c
index 1d0e90c18a..ac2b8e33cc 100644
--- a/app/src/scrcpy.c
+++ b/app/src/scrcpy.c
@@ -417,10 +417,14 @@ scrcpy(struct scrcpy_options *options) {
 
     if (options->video_playback) {
         sdl_set_hints(options->render_driver);
-        if (SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_VIDEO)) {
-            LOGE("Could not initialize SDL video: %s", SDL_GetError());
-            goto end;
-        }
+    }
+
+    // Initialize the video subsystem even if --no-video or --no-video-playback
+    // is passed so that clipboard synchronization still works.
+    // <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy/issues/4418>
+    if (SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_VIDEO)) {
+        LOGE("Could not initialize SDL video: %s", SDL_GetError());
+        goto end;
     }
 
     if (options->audio_playback) {