diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 49d5c4a10..7b866a4a9 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package config
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/owncast/owncast/utils"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -184,7 +186,23 @@ func (c *config) GetFFMpegPath() string {
 		return c.FFMpegPath
 	}
 
-	return _default.FFMpegPath
+	// First look to see if ffmpeg is in the current working directory
+	localCopy := "./ffmpeg"
+	hasLocalCopyError := verifyFFMpegPath(localCopy)
+	if hasLocalCopyError == nil {
+		// No error, so all is good.  Use the local copy.
+		return localCopy
+	}
+
+	cmd := exec.Command("which", "ffmpeg")
+	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Debugln("Unable to determine path to ffmpeg. Please specify it in the config file.")
+	}
+
+	path := strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
+
+	return path
 }
 
 func (c *config) GetYPServiceHost() string {
diff --git a/config/defaults.go b/config/defaults.go
index a10b4bd00..251800a56 100644
--- a/config/defaults.go
+++ b/config/defaults.go
@@ -1,14 +1,8 @@
 package config
 
-import (
-	"os/exec"
-	"strings"
-)
-
 func getDefaults() config {
 	defaults := config{}
 	defaults.WebServerPort = 8080
-	defaults.FFMpegPath = getDefaultFFMpegPath()
 	defaults.VideoSettings.ChunkLengthInSeconds = 4
 	defaults.Files.MaxNumberInPlaylist = 5
 	defaults.YP.Enabled = false
@@ -25,23 +19,3 @@ func getDefaults() config {
 
 	return defaults
 }
-
-func getDefaultFFMpegPath() string {
-	// First look to see if ffmpeg is in the current working directory
-	localCopy := "./ffmpeg"
-	hasLocalCopyError := verifyFFMpegPath(localCopy)
-	if hasLocalCopyError == nil {
-		// No error, so all is good.  Use the local copy.
-		return localCopy
-	}
-
-	cmd := exec.Command("which", "ffmpeg")
-	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
-	if err != nil {
-		panic("Unable to determine path to ffmpeg. Please specify it in the config file.")
-	}
-
-	path := strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
-
-	return path
-}