diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 41ac703c2..2940c4a85 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -440,23 +440,13 @@ endif()
 
 find_package(FFMPEG REQUIRED
   COMPONENTS
+    avcodec
     avformat
     avutil)
 
 set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES ${FFMPEG_avutil_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 check_include_file("libavutil/hwcontext.h" HAVE_LIBAVUTIL_HWCONTEXT_H)
 
-find_package(FFMPEG COMPONENTS avcodec)
-if(FFMPEG_avcodec_FOUND)
-  set(HAVE_LIBAVCODEC 1)
-  set(HAVE_LIBAVCODEC_AVCODEC_H 1)
-  list(APPEND ZM_BIN_LIBS "${FFMPEG_avcodec_LIBRARIES}")
-  set(optlibsfound "${optlibsfound} AVCodec")
-else()
-  message(WARNING "\nWhile it should be possible to build ZM without AVCODEC the result will pretty useless.")
-  set(optlibsnotfound "${optlibsnotfound} AVCodec")
-endif()
-
 find_package(FFMPEG COMPONENTS avdevice)
 if(FFMPEG_avdevice_FOUND)
   set(HAVE_LIBAVDEVICE 1)
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 5e508e576..fe0ee23ee 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ target_include_directories(zm
 
 target_link_libraries(zm
   PUBLIC
+    FFMPEG::avcodec
     FFMPEG::avformat
     FFMPEG::avutil
     libbcrypt::bcrypt
diff --git a/src/zm_eventstream.cpp b/src/zm_eventstream.cpp
index 9b4f106e9..25949624d 100644
--- a/src/zm_eventstream.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_eventstream.cpp
@@ -699,7 +699,6 @@ bool EventStream::sendFrame(int delta_us) {
     return false;
   }
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
   if ( type == STREAM_MPEG ) {
     Image image(filepath);
 
@@ -712,9 +711,7 @@ bool EventStream::sendFrame(int delta_us) {
       vid_stream->OpenStream();
     }
     /* double pts = */ vid_stream->EncodeFrame(send_image->Buffer(), send_image->Size(), config.mpeg_timed_frames, delta_us*1000);
-  } else
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-  {
+  } else {
     bool send_raw = (type == STREAM_JPEG) && ((scale>=ZM_SCALE_BASE)&&(zoom==ZM_SCALE_BASE)) && filepath[0];
 
     fprintf(stdout, "--" BOUNDARY "\r\n");
@@ -1026,10 +1023,9 @@ void EventStream::runStream() {
       }  // end if forward or reverse
     }  // end if checkEventLoaded
   }  // end while ! zm_terminate
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-  if ( type == STREAM_MPEG )
+  if (type == STREAM_MPEG) {
     delete vid_stream;
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
+  }
 
   closeComms();
 } // end void EventStream::runStream()
diff --git a/src/zm_ffmpeg.h b/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
index e931b0c37..4d9715420 100644
--- a/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
+++ b/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
@@ -110,7 +110,6 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 // AVCODEC
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC_AVCODEC_H
 #include <libavcodec/avcodec.h>
 
 /*
@@ -128,7 +127,6 @@ extern "C" {
 #else
     #define _AVCODECID CodecID
 #endif
-#endif /* HAVE_LIBAVCODEC_AVCODEC_H */
 
 // AVFORMAT
 #include <libavformat/avformat.h>
diff --git a/src/zm_monitor.h b/src/zm_monitor.h
index 531160885..c72b8d326 100644
--- a/src/zm_monitor.h
+++ b/src/zm_monitor.h
@@ -607,9 +607,7 @@ public:
   //void StreamImages( int scale=100, int maxfps=10, time_t ttl=0, int msq_id=0 );
   //void StreamImagesRaw( int scale=100, int maxfps=10, time_t ttl=0 );
   //void StreamImagesZip( int scale=100, int maxfps=10, time_t ttl=0 );
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
   //void StreamMpeg( const char *format, int scale=100, int maxfps=10, int bitrate=100000 );
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
   double get_capture_fps( ) const {
     return shared_data ? shared_data->capture_fps : 0.0;
   }
diff --git a/src/zm_monitorstream.cpp b/src/zm_monitorstream.cpp
index 0df93f963..f7ff0fea5 100644
--- a/src/zm_monitorstream.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_monitorstream.cpp
@@ -385,7 +385,6 @@ bool MonitorStream::sendFrame(Image *image, const timeval &timestamp) {
     monitor->TimestampImage(send_image, timestamp);
 
   fputs("--" BOUNDARY "\r\n", stdout);
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
   if ( type == STREAM_MPEG ) {
     if ( !vid_stream ) {
       vid_stream = new VideoStream("pipe:", format, bitrate, effective_fps, send_image->Colours(), send_image->SubpixelOrder(), send_image->Width(), send_image->Height());
@@ -398,9 +397,7 @@ bool MonitorStream::sendFrame(Image *image, const timeval &timestamp) {
       base_time = timestamp;
     DELTA_TIMEVAL(delta_time, timestamp, base_time, DT_PREC_3);
     /* double pts = */ vid_stream->EncodeFrame(send_image->Buffer(), send_image->Size(), config.mpeg_timed_frames, delta_time.delta);
-  } else
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-  {
+  } else {
     static unsigned char temp_img_buffer[ZM_MAX_IMAGE_SIZE];
 
     int img_buffer_size = 0;
diff --git a/src/zm_mpeg.cpp b/src/zm_mpeg.cpp
index 5ab1ad5dc..d73975cc7 100644
--- a/src/zm_mpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_mpeg.cpp
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 #include <cstring>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
 extern "C" {
 #include <libavutil/mathematics.h>
 #include <libavcodec/avcodec.h>
@@ -766,5 +765,3 @@ void *VideoStream::StreamingThreadCallback(void *ctx){
 	
 	return nullptr;
 }
-
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
diff --git a/src/zm_mpeg.h b/src/zm_mpeg.h
index 4999f1328..b6a6f49be 100644
--- a/src/zm_mpeg.h
+++ b/src/zm_mpeg.h
@@ -23,8 +23,6 @@
 #include "zm_ffmpeg.h"
 #include <pthread.h>
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-
 class VideoStream {
 protected:
   struct MimeData {
@@ -83,6 +81,4 @@ public:
   double EncodeFrame( const uint8_t *buffer, int buffer_size, bool add_timestamp=false, unsigned int timestamp=0 );
 };
 
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-
 #endif // ZM_MPEG_H
diff --git a/src/zm_rtp_source.cpp b/src/zm_rtp_source.cpp
index ff69a6069..2fd5bc41b 100644
--- a/src/zm_rtp_source.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_rtp_source.cpp
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-
 RtpSource::RtpSource(
     int id,
     const std::string &localHost,
@@ -371,5 +369,3 @@ bool RtpSource::getFrame(Buffer &buffer) {
   Debug(4, "Copied %d bytes", buffer.size());
   return true;
 }
-
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
diff --git a/src/zm_rtp_source.h b/src/zm_rtp_source.h
index 0d1bdee83..3736f71cb 100644
--- a/src/zm_rtp_source.h
+++ b/src/zm_rtp_source.h
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-
 struct RtpDataHeader;
 
 class RtpSource
@@ -193,6 +191,4 @@ public:
   }
 };
 
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-
 #endif // ZM_RTP_SOURCE_H
diff --git a/src/zm_stream.cpp b/src/zm_stream.cpp
index ce7a4460b..c8f1166bd 100644
--- a/src/zm_stream.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_stream.cpp
@@ -28,12 +28,10 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 StreamBase::~StreamBase() {
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-  if ( vid_stream ) {
+  if (vid_stream) {
     delete vid_stream;
     vid_stream = nullptr;
   }
-#endif
   closeComms();
 }
 
@@ -263,7 +261,6 @@ bool StreamBase::sendTextFrame(const char *frame_text) {
   if ( scale != 100 ) {
     image.Scale(scale);
   }
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
   if ( type == STREAM_MPEG ) {
     if ( !vid_stream ) {
       vid_stream = new VideoStream("pipe:", format, bitrate, effective_fps, image.Colours(), image.SubpixelOrder(), image.Width(), image.Height());
@@ -271,9 +268,7 @@ bool StreamBase::sendTextFrame(const char *frame_text) {
       vid_stream->OpenStream();
     }
     /* double pts = */ vid_stream->EncodeFrame(image.Buffer(), image.Size());
-  } else
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-  {
+  } else {
     static unsigned char buffer[ZM_MAX_IMAGE_SIZE];
     int n_bytes = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/zm_stream.h b/src/zm_stream.h
index 6d752689d..9182d6dd4 100644
--- a/src/zm_stream.h
+++ b/src/zm_stream.h
@@ -129,9 +129,7 @@ protected:
   double last_frame_sent;
   struct timeval last_frame_timestamp;
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC   
   VideoStream *vid_stream;
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC   
 
   CmdMsg msg;
 
@@ -178,9 +176,7 @@ public:
     effective_fps = 0.0;
     frame_mod = 1;
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC   
     vid_stream = 0;
-#endif // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC   
     last_frame_sent = 0.0;
     last_frame_timestamp = {};
     msg = { 0, { 0 } };
diff --git a/src/zm_videostore.h b/src/zm_videostore.h
index 0a3f69ecf..467f85545 100644
--- a/src/zm_videostore.h
+++ b/src/zm_videostore.h
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ extern "C"  {
 #endif
 }
 
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-
 class Monitor;
 class ZMPacket;
 class PacketQueue;
@@ -119,6 +117,5 @@ class VideoStore {
     void flush_codecs();
 };
 
-#endif //havelibav
-#endif //zm_videostore_h
+#endif // ZM_VIDEOSTORE_H
 
diff --git a/src/zms.cpp b/src/zms.cpp
index d98f24418..70b0b1b80 100644
--- a/src/zms.cpp
+++ b/src/zms.cpp
@@ -281,19 +281,9 @@ int main(int argc, const char *argv[], char **envp) {
     } else if ( mode == ZMS_SINGLE ) {
       stream.setStreamType(MonitorStream::STREAM_SINGLE);
     } else {
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
       stream.setStreamFormat(format);
       stream.setStreamBitrate(bitrate);
       stream.setStreamType(MonitorStream::STREAM_MPEG);
-#else  // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-      Error("MPEG streaming of '%s' attempted while disabled", query);
-      fprintf(stderr, "MPEG streaming is disabled.\n"
-          "You should configure with the --with-ffmpeg"
-          " option and rebuild to use this functionality.\n");
-      logTerm();
-      zmDbClose();
-      return -1;
-#endif  // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
     }
     stream.runStream();
   } else if ( source == ZMS_FIFO ) {
@@ -320,19 +310,9 @@ int main(int argc, const char *argv[], char **envp) {
     if ( mode == ZMS_JPEG ) {
       stream.setStreamType(EventStream::STREAM_JPEG);
     } else {
-#if HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
       stream.setStreamFormat(format);
       stream.setStreamBitrate(bitrate);
       stream.setStreamType(EventStream::STREAM_MPEG);
-#else  // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
-      Error("MPEG streaming of '%s' attempted while disabled", query);
-      fprintf(stderr, "MPEG streaming is disabled.\n"
-          "You should ensure the ffmpeg libraries are installed and detected"
-          " and rebuild to use this functionality.\n");
-      logTerm();
-      zmDbClose();
-      return -1;
-#endif  // HAVE_LIBAVCODEC
     }  // end if jpeg or mpeg
     stream.runStream();
   } else {
diff --git a/zoneminder-config.cmake b/zoneminder-config.cmake
index 2457a80ff..ee2912823 100644
--- a/zoneminder-config.cmake
+++ b/zoneminder-config.cmake
@@ -34,8 +34,6 @@
 #cmakedefine HAVE_LIBGNUTLS 1
 #cmakedefine HAVE_LIBMYSQLCLIENT 1
 #cmakedefine HAVE_MYSQL_H 1
-#cmakedefine HAVE_LIBAVCODEC 1
-#cmakedefine HAVE_LIBAVCODEC_AVCODEC_H 1
 #cmakedefine HAVE_LIBAVDEVICE 1
 #cmakedefine HAVE_LIBAVDEVICE_AVDEVICE_H 1
 #cmakedefine HAVE_LIBAVUTIL_HWCONTEXT_H 1