diff --git a/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp b/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp
index 4fe14051f..548c29412 100644
--- a/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_ffmpeg.cpp
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ void zm_dump_stream_format(AVFormatContext *ic, int i, int index, int is_output)
   //dump_sidedata(NULL, st, "    ");
 }
 
-int check_sample_fmt(AVCodec *codec, enum AVSampleFormat sample_fmt) {
+int check_sample_fmt(const AVCodec *codec, enum AVSampleFormat sample_fmt) {
   const enum AVSampleFormat *p = codec->sample_fmts;
 
   while (*p != AV_SAMPLE_FMT_NONE) {
diff --git a/src/zm_ffmpeg.h b/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
index f3a3296a8..18090098f 100644
--- a/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
+++ b/src/zm_ffmpeg.h
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ void zm_dump_codecpar(const AVCodecParameters *par);
 
 #define zm_av_frame_alloc() av_frame_alloc()
 
-int check_sample_fmt(AVCodec *codec, enum AVSampleFormat sample_fmt);
+int check_sample_fmt(const AVCodec *codec, enum AVSampleFormat sample_fmt);
 enum AVPixelFormat fix_deprecated_pix_fmt(enum AVPixelFormat );
 
 bool is_video_stream(const AVStream *);
diff --git a/src/zm_ffmpeg_camera.cpp b/src/zm_ffmpeg_camera.cpp
index 4a0c94ec9..db90ffa42 100644
--- a/src/zm_ffmpeg_camera.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_ffmpeg_camera.cpp
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ int FfmpegCamera::OpenFfmpeg() {
   Debug(3, "Found video stream at index %d, audio stream at index %d",
       mVideoStreamId, mAudioStreamId);
 
-  AVCodec *mVideoCodec = nullptr;
+  const AVCodec *mVideoCodec = nullptr;
   if (mVideoStream->codecpar->codec_id == AV_CODEC_ID_H264) {
     if ((mVideoCodec = avcodec_find_decoder_by_name("h264_mmal")) == nullptr) {
       Debug(1, "Failed to find decoder (h264_mmal)");
@@ -494,7 +494,7 @@ int FfmpegCamera::OpenFfmpeg() {
   }  // end if have audio stream
 
   if ( mAudioStreamId >= 0 ) {
-    AVCodec *mAudioCodec = nullptr;
+    const AVCodec *mAudioCodec = nullptr;
     if (!(mAudioCodec = avcodec_find_decoder(mAudioStream->codecpar->codec_id))) {
       Debug(1, "Can't find codec for audio stream from %s", mPath.c_str());
     } else {
diff --git a/src/zm_ffmpeg_input.h b/src/zm_ffmpeg_input.h
index 6ccc87682..3f2e5b7e9 100644
--- a/src/zm_ffmpeg_input.h
+++ b/src/zm_ffmpeg_input.h
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class FFmpeg_Input {
   private:
     typedef struct {
         AVCodecContext *context;
-        AVCodec *codec;
+        const AVCodec *codec;
         int frame_count;
     } stream;
 
diff --git a/src/zm_mpeg.cpp b/src/zm_mpeg.cpp
index 275e36628..8f367a90c 100644
--- a/src/zm_mpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_mpeg.cpp
@@ -97,16 +97,11 @@ int VideoStream::SetupCodec(
 		// Not sure what this value should be really...
 		ofc->packet_size = width*height;
     Debug(1,"Setting packet_size to %d", ofc->packet_size);
-
-		if (of->video_codec == AV_CODEC_ID_NONE) {
-			// RTP does not have a default codec in ffmpeg <= 0.8.
-			of->video_codec = AV_CODEC_ID_MPEG4;
-		}
 	}
 
 	_AVCODECID codec_id = of->video_codec;
 	if (codec_name) {
-    AVCodec *a = avcodec_find_encoder_by_name(codec_name);
+    const AVCodec *a = avcodec_find_encoder_by_name(codec_name);
     if (a) {
       codec_id = a->id;
       Debug(1, "Using codec \"%s\"", codec_name);
diff --git a/src/zm_mpeg.h b/src/zm_mpeg.h
index 552652a1d..231821f2d 100644
--- a/src/zm_mpeg.h
+++ b/src/zm_mpeg.h
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ protected:
   const char *format;
   const char *codec_name;
   enum _AVPIXELFORMAT pf;
-  AVOutputFormat *of;
+  const AVOutputFormat *of;
   AVFormatContext *ofc;
   AVStream *ost;
   AVCodecContext *codec_context;
-  AVCodec *codec;
+  const AVCodec *codec;
   AVFrame *opicture;
   AVFrame *tmp_opicture;
   uint8_t *video_outbuf;
diff --git a/src/zm_remote_camera_rtsp.cpp b/src/zm_remote_camera_rtsp.cpp
index ffb4a061d..eb4e1c8b8 100644
--- a/src/zm_remote_camera_rtsp.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_remote_camera_rtsp.cpp
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ int RemoteCameraRtsp::PrimeCapture() {
   avcodec_parameters_to_context(mVideoCodecContext, mFormatContext->streams[mVideoStreamId]->codecpar);
 
   // Find the decoder for the video stream
-  AVCodec *codec = avcodec_find_decoder(mVideoCodecContext->codec_id);
+  const AVCodec *codec = avcodec_find_decoder(mVideoCodecContext->codec_id);
   if ( codec == nullptr ) {
     Error("Unable to locate codec %d decoder", mVideoCodecContext->codec_id);
     return -1;
diff --git a/src/zm_videostore.cpp b/src/zm_videostore.cpp
index 777d7a81a..df6ab707d 100644
--- a/src/zm_videostore.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_videostore.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ bool VideoStore::open() {
   oc->metadata = pmetadata;
   out_format = oc->oformat;
   out_format->flags |= AVFMT_TS_NONSTRICT; // allow non increasing dts
-  AVCodec *video_out_codec = nullptr;
+  const AVCodec *video_out_codec = nullptr;
 
   AVDictionary *opts = nullptr;
   std::string Options = monitor->GetEncoderOptions();
diff --git a/src/zm_videostore.h b/src/zm_videostore.h
index c73ed19db..374cc0f26 100644
--- a/src/zm_videostore.h
+++ b/src/zm_videostore.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class VideoStore {
     CodecData *chosen_codec_data;
 
     Monitor *monitor;
-    AVOutputFormat *out_format;
+    const AVOutputFormat *out_format;
     AVFormatContext *oc;
     AVStream *video_out_stream;
     AVStream *audio_out_stream;
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class VideoStore {
     const AVCodec *audio_in_codec;
     AVCodecContext *audio_in_ctx;
     // The following are used when encoding the audio stream to AAC
-    AVCodec *audio_out_codec;
+    const AVCodec *audio_out_codec;
     AVCodecContext *audio_out_ctx;
     // Move this into the object so that we aren't constantly allocating/deallocating it on the stack
     AVPacket opkt;