diff --git a/core/transcoder/ffmpeg.go b/core/transcoder/ffmpeg.go
index b65f78144..4108889f4 100644
--- a/core/transcoder/ffmpeg.go
+++ b/core/transcoder/ffmpeg.go
@@ -16,11 +16,10 @@ type Transcoder interface {
 }
 
 func New() Transcoder {
-	path, err := exec.LookPath("ffmpeg")
+	_, err := exec.LookPath("ffmpeg")
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error("Unable to find ffmpeg", err)
 	}
-	log.Debug("Found ffmpeg", "path", path)
 	return &ffmpeg{}
 }
 
diff --git a/server/initial_setup.go b/server/initial_setup.go
index 5b5ac2675..1362c99d9 100644
--- a/server/initial_setup.go
+++ b/server/initial_setup.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package server
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"os/exec"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/deluan/navidrome/conf"
@@ -79,3 +80,15 @@ func createJWTSecret(ds model.DataStore) error {
 	}
 	return err
 }
+
+func checkFfmpegInstallation() {
+	path, err := exec.LookPath("ffmpeg")
+	if err == nil {
+		log.Debug("Found ffmpeg", "path", path)
+	}
+	log.Warn("Unable to find ffmpeg. Transcoding will fail if used", err)
+	if conf.Server.Scanner.Extractor == "ffmpeg" {
+		log.Warn("ffmpeg cannot be used for metadata extraction. Falling back to taglib")
+		conf.Server.Scanner.Extractor = "taglib"
+	}
+}
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index 82945527a..f0f78d3ac 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ func New(scanner *scanner.Scanner, ds model.DataStore) *Server {
 	initialSetup(ds)
 	a.initRoutes()
 	a.initScanner()
+	checkFfmpegInstallation()
 	return a
 }