diff --git a/ios/Video/Features/RCTPlayerOperations.swift b/ios/Video/Features/RCTPlayerOperations.swift
index 320e322303..27d085c993 100644
--- a/ios/Video/Features/RCTPlayerOperations.swift
+++ b/ios/Video/Features/RCTPlayerOperations.swift
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@ enum RCTPlayerOperations {
     static func setSideloadedText(player:AVPlayer?, textTracks:[TextTrack]?, criteria:SelectedTrackCriteria?) {
         let type = criteria?.type
         let textTracks:[TextTrack]! = textTracks ?? RCTVideoUtils.getTextTrackInfo(player)
-        
+        let trackCount:Int! = player?.currentItem?.tracks.count ?? 0
+
         // The first few tracks will be audio & video track
-        let firstTextIndex:Int = 0
-        for firstTextIndex in 0..<(player?.currentItem?.tracks.count ?? 0) {
-            if player?.currentItem?.tracks[firstTextIndex].assetTrack?.hasMediaCharacteristic(.legible) ?? false {
+        var firstTextIndex:Int = 0
+        for i in 0..<(trackCount) {
+            if player?.currentItem?.tracks[i].assetTrack?.hasMediaCharacteristic(.legible) ?? false {
+                firstTextIndex = i
                 break
             }
         }
@@ -24,7 +26,8 @@ enum RCTPlayerOperations {
         var selectedTrackIndex:Int = RCTVideoUnset
         
         if (type == "disabled") {
-            // Do nothing. We want to ensure option is nil
+            // Select the last text index which is the disabled text track
+            selectedTrackIndex = trackCount - firstTextIndex
         } else if (type == "language") {
             let selectedValue = criteria?.value as? String
             for i in 0..<textTracks.count {
@@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ enum RCTPlayerOperations {
         
         // in the situation that a selected text track is not available (eg. specifies a textTrack not available)
         if (type != "disabled") && selectedTrackIndex == RCTVideoUnset {
-            let captioningMediaCharacteristics = MACaptionAppearanceCopyPreferredCaptioningMediaCharacteristics(.user) as! CFArray
+            let captioningMediaCharacteristics = MACaptionAppearanceCopyPreferredCaptioningMediaCharacteristics(.user)
             let captionSettings = captioningMediaCharacteristics as? [AnyHashable]
             if ((captionSettings?.contains(AVMediaCharacteristic.transcribesSpokenDialogForAccessibility)) != nil) {
                 selectedTrackIndex = 0 // If we can't find a match, use the first available track
@@ -67,8 +70,8 @@ enum RCTPlayerOperations {
                 }
             }
         }
-        
-        for i in firstTextIndex..<(player?.currentItem?.tracks.count ?? 0) {
+                
+        for i in firstTextIndex..<(trackCount) {
             var isEnabled = false
             if selectedTrackIndex != RCTVideoUnset {
                 isEnabled = i == selectedTrackIndex + firstTextIndex
diff --git a/ios/Video/Features/RCTVideoUtils.swift b/ios/Video/Features/RCTVideoUtils.swift
index 69c127afbb..d8ec8677f6 100644
--- a/ios/Video/Features/RCTVideoUtils.swift
+++ b/ios/Video/Features/RCTVideoUtils.swift
@@ -37,16 +37,17 @@ enum RCTVideoUtils {
         return 0
     }
 
-    static func urlFilePath(filepath:NSString!) -> NSURL! {
+    static func urlFilePath(filepath:NSString!, searchPath:FileManager.SearchPathDirectory) -> NSURL! {
         if filepath.contains("file://") {
             return NSURL(string: filepath as String)
         }
         
         // if no file found, check if the file exists in the Document directory
-        let paths:[String]! = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true)
+        let paths:[String]! = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(searchPath, .userDomainMask, true)
         var relativeFilePath:String! = filepath.lastPathComponent
         // the file may be multiple levels below the documents directory
-        let fileComponents:[String]! = filepath.components(separatedBy: "Documents/")
+        let directoryString:String! = searchPath == .cachesDirectory ? "Library/Caches/" : "Documents";
+        let fileComponents:[String]! = filepath.components(separatedBy: directoryString)
         if fileComponents.count > 1 {
             relativeFilePath = fileComponents[1]
         }
@@ -192,6 +193,7 @@ enum RCTVideoUtils {
     static func getValidTextTracks(asset:AVAsset, assetOptions:NSDictionary?, mixComposition:AVMutableComposition, textTracks:[TextTrack]?) -> [TextTrack] {
         let videoAsset:AVAssetTrack! = asset.tracks(withMediaType: AVMediaType.video).first
         var validTextTracks:[TextTrack] = []
+        
         if let textTracks = textTracks, textTracks.count > 0 {
             for i in 0..<textTracks.count {
                 var textURLAsset:AVURLAsset!
@@ -199,7 +201,9 @@ enum RCTVideoUtils {
                 if textUri.lowercased().hasPrefix("http") {
                     textURLAsset = AVURLAsset(url: NSURL(string: textUri)! as URL, options:(assetOptions as! [String : Any]))
                 } else {
-                    textURLAsset = AVURLAsset(url: RCTVideoUtils.urlFilePath(filepath: textUri as NSString?) as URL, options:nil)
+                    let isDisabledTrack:Bool! = textTracks[i].type == "disabled"
+                    let searchPath:FileManager.SearchPathDirectory = isDisabledTrack ? .cachesDirectory : .documentDirectory;
+                    textURLAsset = AVURLAsset(url: RCTVideoUtils.urlFilePath(filepath: textUri as NSString?, searchPath: searchPath) as URL, options:nil)
                 }
                 let textTrackAsset:AVAssetTrack! = textURLAsset.tracks(withMediaType: AVMediaType.text).first
                 if (textTrackAsset == nil) {continue} // fix when there's no textTrackAsset
@@ -215,9 +219,43 @@ enum RCTVideoUtils {
                 }
             }
         }
+        
+        let emptyVttFile:TextTrack? = self.createEmptyVttFile()
+        if (emptyVttFile != nil) {
+            validTextTracks.append(emptyVttFile!)
+        }
+        
         return validTextTracks
     }
 
+    /*
+     * Create an useless / almost empty VTT file in the list with available tracks. This track gets selected when you give type: "disabled" as the selectedTextTrack
+     * This is needed because there is a bug where sideloaded texttracks cannot be disabled in the AVPlayer. Loading this VTT file instead solves that problem.
+     * For more info see: https://github.com/react-native-community/react-native-video/issues/1144
+     */
+    static func createEmptyVttFile() -> TextTrack? {
+        let fileManager = FileManager.default
+        let cachesDirectoryUrl = fileManager.urls(for: .cachesDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)[0]
+        let filePath = cachesDirectoryUrl.appendingPathComponent("empty.vtt").path
+        
+        if !fileManager.fileExists(atPath: filePath) {
+            let stringToWrite = "WEBVTT\n\n1\n99:59:59.000 --> 99:59:59.001\n."
+
+            do {
+                try stringToWrite.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: filePath), atomically: true, encoding: String.Encoding.utf8)
+            } catch {
+                return nil
+            }
+        }
+        
+        return TextTrack([
+            "language": "disabled",
+            "title": "EmptyVttFile",
+            "type": "text/vtt",
+            "uri": filePath,
+        ])
+    }
+    
     static func delay(seconds: Int = 0) -> Promise<Void> {
         return Promise<Void>(on: .global()) { fulfill, reject in
             DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: DispatchTime.now() + Double(Int64(seconds)) / Double(NSEC_PER_SEC), execute: {
diff --git a/ios/Video/RCTVideoManager.swift b/ios/Video/RCTVideoManager.swift
index bf42f70713..d1c73de82f 100644
--- a/ios/Video/RCTVideoManager.swift
+++ b/ios/Video/RCTVideoManager.swift
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import React
 class RCTVideoManager: RCTViewManager {
     
     override func view() -> UIView {
-        return RCTVideo(eventDispatcher: bridge.eventDispatcher())
+        return RCTVideo(eventDispatcher: bridge.eventDispatcher() as! RCTEventDispatcher)
     }
     
     func methodQueue() -> DispatchQueue {