diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/video_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/video_module.py
index 0de4ed2f87..0a359370d9 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/video_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/video_module.py
@@ -176,18 +176,6 @@ class VideoModule(VideoFields, VideoTranscriptsMixin, VideoStudentViewHandlers,
         transcript_download_format = self.transcript_download_format if not (self.download_track and self.track) else None
         sources = filter(None, self.html5_sources)
 
-        # If the user comes from China use China CDN for html5 videos.
-        # 'CN' is China ISO 3166-1 country code.
-        # Video caching is disabled for Studio. User_location is always None in Studio.
-        # CountryMiddleware disabled for Studio.
-        cdn_url = getattr(settings, 'VIDEO_CDN_URL', {}).get(self.system.user_location)
-
-        if getattr(self, 'video_speed_optimizations', True) and cdn_url:
-            for index, source_url in enumerate(sources):
-                new_url = get_video_from_cdn(cdn_url, source_url)
-                if new_url:
-                    sources[index] = new_url
-
         download_video_link = None
         youtube_streams = ""
 
@@ -202,8 +190,12 @@ class VideoModule(VideoFields, VideoTranscriptsMixin, VideoStudentViewHandlers,
                 # VAL will always give us the keys for the profiles we asked for, but
                 # if it doesn't have an encoded video entry for that Video + Profile, the
                 # value will map to `None`
-                if val_video_urls["desktop_mp4"] and self.download_video:
-                    download_video_link = val_video_urls["desktop_mp4"]
+                if val_video_urls["desktop_mp4"]:
+                    if self.download_video:
+                        download_video_link = val_video_urls["desktop_mp4"]
+                    # add the desktop_mp4 profile to the list of alternative sources
+                    if val_video_urls["desktop_mp4"] not in sources:
+                        sources.append(val_video_urls["desktop_mp4"])
                 if val_video_urls["youtube"]:
                     youtube_streams = "1.00:{}".format(val_video_urls["youtube"])
             except edxval_api.ValInternalError:
@@ -212,6 +204,18 @@ class VideoModule(VideoFields, VideoTranscriptsMixin, VideoStudentViewHandlers,
                 # exception and fallback to whatever we find in the VideoDescriptor.
                 log.warning("Could not retrieve information from VAL for edx Video ID: %s.", self.edx_video_id)
 
+        # If the user comes from China use China CDN for html5 videos.
+        # 'CN' is China ISO 3166-1 country code.
+        # Video caching is disabled for Studio. User_location is always None in Studio.
+        # CountryMiddleware disabled for Studio.
+        cdn_url = getattr(settings, 'VIDEO_CDN_URL', {}).get(self.system.user_location)
+
+        if getattr(self, 'video_speed_optimizations', True) and cdn_url:
+            for index, source_url in enumerate(sources):
+                new_url = get_video_from_cdn(cdn_url, source_url)
+                if new_url:
+                    sources[index] = new_url
+
         # If there was no edx_video_id, or if there was no download specified
         # for it, we fall back on whatever we find in the VideoDescriptor
         if not download_video_link and self.download_video:
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_video_mongo.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_video_mongo.py
index 50d2a6f134..d00ee89aec 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_video_mongo.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_video_mongo.py
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ class TestGetHtmlMethod(BaseTestXmodule):
                 self.item_descriptor.xmodule_runtime.render_template('video.html', expected_context)
             )
 
-    def test_get_html_with_non_existant_edx_video_id(self):
+    def test_get_html_with_non_existent_edx_video_id(self):
         """
         Tests the VideoModule get_html where a edx_video_id is given but a video is not found
         """
@@ -452,7 +452,8 @@ class TestGetHtmlMethod(BaseTestXmodule):
             'edx_video_id': "mock item",
             'result': {
                 'download_video_link': None,
-                'sources': json.dumps([u'example.mp4', u'example.webm']),
+                # make sure the desktop_mp4 url is included as part of the alternative sources.
+                'sources': json.dumps([u'example.mp4', u'example.webm', u'http://www.meowmix.com']),
             }
         }
 
@@ -527,7 +528,7 @@ class TestGetHtmlMethod(BaseTestXmodule):
                 edx_video_id="thundercats",
                 encoded_videos=[
                     dict(
-                        url="http://fake-video.edx.org/thundercats.mp4",
+                        url=u"http://fake-video.edx.org/thundercats.mp4",
                         file_size=9000,
                         bitrate=42,
                         profile="desktop_mp4",
@@ -558,7 +559,8 @@ class TestGetHtmlMethod(BaseTestXmodule):
             'edx_video_id': "thundercats",
             'result': {
                 'download_video_link': u'http://fake-video.edx.org/thundercats.mp4',
-                'sources': json.dumps([u'example.mp4', u'example.webm']),
+                # make sure the desktop_mp4 url is included as part of the alternative sources.
+                'sources': json.dumps([u'example.mp4', u'example.webm', u"http://fake-video.edx.org/thundercats.mp4"]),
             }
         }
 
@@ -635,30 +637,35 @@ class TestGetHtmlMethod(BaseTestXmodule):
             display_name="A Name"
             sub="a_sub_file.srt.sjson" source="{source}"
             download_video="{download_video}"
+            edx_video_id="{edx_video_id}"
             start_time="01:00:03" end_time="01:00:10"
             >
                 {sources}
             </video>
         """
-        cases = [
-            #
-            {
-                'download_video': 'true',
-                'source': 'example_source.mp4',
-                'sources': """
-                    <source src="http://example.com/example.mp4"/>
-                    <source src="http://example.com/example.webm"/>
-                """,
-                'result': {
-                    'download_video_link': u'example_source.mp4',
-                    'sources': json.dumps(
-                        [
-                            u'http://cdn_example.com/example.mp4',
-                            u'http://cdn_example.com/example.webm'
-                        ]
-                    ),
-                },
+
+        case_data = {
+            'download_video': 'true',
+            'source': 'example_source.mp4',
+            'sources': """
+                <source src="http://example.com/example.mp4"/>
+                <source src="http://example.com/example.webm"/>
+            """,
+            'result': {
+                'download_video_link': u'example_source.mp4',
+                'sources': json.dumps(
+                    [
+                        u'http://cdn_example.com/example.mp4',
+                        u'http://cdn_example.com/example.webm'
+                    ]
+                ),
             },
+        }
+
+        # test with and without edx_video_id specified.
+        cases = [
+            dict(case_data, edx_video_id=""),
+            dict(case_data, edx_video_id="vid-v1:12345"),
         ]
 
         initial_context = {
@@ -691,106 +698,8 @@ class TestGetHtmlMethod(BaseTestXmodule):
             DATA = SOURCE_XML.format(
                 download_video=data['download_video'],
                 source=data['source'],
-                sources=data['sources']
-            )
-            self.initialize_module(data=DATA)
-            self.item_descriptor.xmodule_runtime.user_location = 'CN'
-
-            context = self.item_descriptor.render('student_view').content
-
-            expected_context = dict(initial_context)
-            expected_context.update({
-                'transcript_translation_url': self.item_descriptor.xmodule_runtime.handler_url(
-                    self.item_descriptor, 'transcript', 'translation'
-                ).rstrip('/?'),
-                'transcript_available_translations_url': self.item_descriptor.xmodule_runtime.handler_url(
-                    self.item_descriptor, 'transcript', 'available_translations'
-                ).rstrip('/?'),
-                'ajax_url': self.item_descriptor.xmodule_runtime.ajax_url + '/save_user_state',
-                'id': self.item_descriptor.location.html_id(),
-            })
-            expected_context.update(data['result'])
-
-            self.assertEqual(
-                context,
-                self.item_descriptor.xmodule_runtime.render_template('video.html', expected_context)
-            )
-
-    @patch('xmodule.video_module.video_module.get_video_from_cdn')
-    def test_get_html_cdn_source(self, mocked_get_video):
-        """
-        Test if sources got from CDN.
-        """
-        def side_effect(*args, **kwargs):
-            cdn = {
-                'http://example.com/example.mp4': 'http://cdn_example.com/example.mp4',
-                'http://example.com/example.webm': 'http://cdn_example.com/example.webm',
-            }
-            return cdn.get(args[1])
-
-        mocked_get_video.side_effect = side_effect
-
-        SOURCE_XML = """
-            <video show_captions="true"
-            display_name="A Name"
-            sub="a_sub_file.srt.sjson" source="{source}"
-            download_video="{download_video}"
-            start_time="01:00:03" end_time="01:00:10"
-            >
-                {sources}
-            </video>
-        """
-        cases = [
-            {
-                'download_video': 'true',
-                'source': 'example_source.mp4',
-                'sources': """
-                    <source src="http://example.com/example.mp4"/>
-                    <source src="http://example.com/example.webm"/>
-                """,
-                'result': {
-                    'download_video_link': u'example_source.mp4',
-                    'sources': json.dumps(
-                        [
-                            u'http://cdn_example.com/example.mp4',
-                            u'http://cdn_example.com/example.webm'
-                        ]
-                    ),
-                },
-            },
-        ]
-
-        initial_context = {
-            'data_dir': getattr(self, 'data_dir', None),
-            'show_captions': 'true',
-            'handout': None,
-            'display_name': u'A Name',
-            'download_video_link': None,
-            'end': 3610.0,
-            'id': None,
-            'sources': '[]',
-            'speed': 'null',
-            'general_speed': 1.0,
-            'start': 3603.0,
-            'saved_video_position': 0.0,
-            'sub': u'a_sub_file.srt.sjson',
-            'track': None,
-            'youtube_streams': '1.00:OEoXaMPEzfM',
-            'autoplay': settings.FEATURES.get('AUTOPLAY_VIDEOS', True),
-            'yt_test_timeout': 1500,
-            'yt_api_url': 'www.youtube.com/iframe_api',
-            'yt_test_url': 'gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/',
-            'transcript_download_format': 'srt',
-            'transcript_download_formats_list': [{'display_name': 'SubRip (.srt) file', 'value': 'srt'}, {'display_name': 'Text (.txt) file', 'value': 'txt'}],
-            'transcript_language': u'en',
-            'transcript_languages': '{"en": "English"}',
-        }
-
-        for data in cases:
-            DATA = SOURCE_XML.format(
-                download_video=data['download_video'],
-                source=data['source'],
-                sources=data['sources']
+                sources=data['sources'],
+                edx_video_id=data['edx_video_id'],
             )
             self.initialize_module(data=DATA)
             self.item_descriptor.xmodule_runtime.user_location = 'CN'