diff --git a/music_assistant/controllers/streams/smart_fades/fades.py b/music_assistant/controllers/streams/smart_fades/fades.py
index 59246cce..673c3a10 100644
--- a/music_assistant/controllers/streams/smart_fades/fades.py
+++ b/music_assistant/controllers/streams/smart_fades/fades.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ async def apply(
             await outfile.write(fade_out_part)
 
         args = [
-            "ffmpeg",
+            "@ffmpeg@",
             "-hide_banner",
             "-loglevel",
             "error",
diff --git a/music_assistant/helpers/audio.py b/music_assistant/helpers/audio.py
index f7828a58..698751f9 100644
--- a/music_assistant/helpers/audio.py
+++ b/music_assistant/helpers/audio.py
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ async def strip_silence(
     :param pcm_format: AudioFormat of the audio data.
     :param reverse: If True, strip from end instead of beginning.
     """
-    args = ["ffmpeg", "-hide_banner", "-loglevel", "quiet"]
+    args = ["@ffmpeg@", "-hide_banner", "-loglevel", "quiet"]
     args += [
         "-acodec",
         pcm_format.content_type.name.lower(),
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ async def get_silence(
         return
     # use ffmpeg for all other encodings
     args = [
-        "ffmpeg",
+        "@ffmpeg@",
         "-hide_banner",
         "-loglevel",
         "quiet",
diff --git a/music_assistant/helpers/ffmpeg.py b/music_assistant/helpers/ffmpeg.py
index 9b7b1bbb..822424dc 100644
--- a/music_assistant/helpers/ffmpeg.py
+++ b/music_assistant/helpers/ffmpeg.py
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ def get_ffmpeg_args(  # noqa: PLR0915
         extra_output_args = []
     # generic args
     generic_args = [
-        "ffmpeg",
+        "@ffmpeg@",
         "-hide_banner",
         "-loglevel",
         loglevel,
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ async def check_ffmpeg_version() -> None:
     """Check if ffmpeg is present (with libsoxr support)."""
     # check for FFmpeg presence
     try:
-        returncode, output = await check_output("ffmpeg", "-version")
+        returncode, output = await check_output("@ffmpeg@", "-version")
     except FileNotFoundError:
         raise AudioError(
             "FFmpeg binary is missing from system. "
diff --git a/music_assistant/helpers/tags.py b/music_assistant/helpers/tags.py
index b50633f0..51e8ec7b 100644
--- a/music_assistant/helpers/tags.py
+++ b/music_assistant/helpers/tags.py
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ def parse_tags(
     Input_file may be a (local) filename or URL accessible by ffmpeg.
     """
     args = (
-        "ffprobe",
+        "@ffprobe@",
         "-hide_banner",
         "-loglevel",
         "fatal",
@@ -737,7 +737,7 @@ def get_file_duration(input_file: str) -> float:
     NOT Async friendly.
     """
     args = (
-        "ffmpeg",
+        "@ffmpeg@",
         "-hide_banner",
         "-loglevel",
         "info",
@@ -1368,7 +1368,7 @@ async def get_embedded_image(input_file: str) -> bytes | None:
 
     # Use FFmpeg for all other cases (URLs, ID3 tags, Vorbis comments, etc.)
     args = [
-        "ffmpeg",
+        "@ffmpeg@",
         "-hide_banner",
         "-loglevel",
         "error",