The effect of pinning on self-heating triggering the Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) flux-flow instability (FFI) in superconducting thin films is theoretically investigated. The problem is considered relying upon the Bezuglyj-Shklovskij (BS) generalization of the LO theory, accounting for a finite heat removal from the quasiparticles at temperature T * to the bath at temperature T0. The FFI critical parameters, namely the current density j * , the electric field E * , the power density P * , and the vortex velocity v * are calculated and graphically analyzed as functions of the magnetic field and the pinning strength. With increasing pinning strength at a fixed magnetic field value E * decreases, j * increases, while P * and T * remain practically constant. Vortex pinning may hence be the cause for eventual discrepancies between experiments on superconductors with strong pinning and the generalized LO and BS results.