diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0d055a8..42f45ed 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -88,11 +88,15 @@ pkg_check_modules(
   gbm
   hyprutils>=0.11.0
   sdbus-c++>=2.0.0
-  hyprgraphics>=0.1.6
-  libavcodec
-  libavformat
-  libavutil
-  libswscale)
+  hyprgraphics>=0.1.6)
+
+option(VIDEO_BACKEND "Enable video background support via FFmpeg" ON)
+if(VIDEO_BACKEND)
+  pkg_check_modules(ffmpeg REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libavcodec libavformat libavutil libswscale)
+  message(STATUS "Video backend: enabled")
+else()
+  message(STATUS "Video backend: disabled")
+endif()
 find_library(PAM_FOUND NAMES pam libpam)
 if(PAM_FOUND)
   set(PAM_LIB ${PAM_FOUND})
@@ -108,10 +112,20 @@ endif()
 message(STATUS "Found pam at ${PAM_LIB}")
 
 file(GLOB_RECURSE SRCFILES CONFIGURE_DEPENDS "src/*.cpp")
+
+if(NOT VIDEO_BACKEND)
+  list(FILTER SRCFILES EXCLUDE REGEX ".*/VideoBackend\\.cpp$")
+endif()
+
 add_executable(hyprlock ${SRCFILES})
 target_link_libraries(hyprlock PRIVATE ${PAM_LIB} rt Threads::Threads PkgConfig::deps
                                        OpenGL::EGL OpenGL::GLES3)
 
+if(VIDEO_BACKEND)
+  target_compile_definitions(hyprlock PRIVATE HYPRLOCK_HAS_VIDEO)
+  target_link_libraries(hyprlock PRIVATE PkgConfig::ffmpeg)
+endif()
+
 # protocols
 pkg_get_variable(WAYLAND_PROTOCOLS_DIR wayland-protocols pkgdatadir)
 message(STATUS "Found wayland-protocols at ${WAYLAND_PROTOCOLS_DIR}")
diff --git a/src/renderer/widgets/Background.cpp b/src/renderer/widgets/Background.cpp
index df1ffcd..e3015c1 100644
--- a/src/renderer/widgets/Background.cpp
+++ b/src/renderer/widgets/Background.cpp
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ void CBackground::configure(const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::any>& pro
             resourceID = 0;
         }
     } else if (!path.empty()) {
+#ifdef HYPRLOCK_HAS_VIDEO
         if (CVideoBackend::isVideoFile(path)) {
             m_videoBackend = makeUnique<CVideoBackend>();
             if (!m_videoBackend->open(path)) {
@@ -96,12 +97,18 @@ void CBackground::configure(const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::any>& pro
             } else {
                 m_uploadBuffer.resize(4 * m_videoBackend->frameW() * m_videoBackend->frameH());
             }
-        } else {
+        } else
+#endif
+        {
             resourceID = g_asyncResourceManager->requestImage(path, m_imageRevision, nullptr);
         }
     }
 
-    if (!reloadCommand.empty() && reloadTime > -1 && !m_videoBackend) {
+    if (!reloadCommand.empty() && reloadTime > -1
+#ifdef HYPRLOCK_HAS_VIDEO
+        && !m_videoBackend
+#endif
+    ) {
         try {
             if (!isScreenshot)
                 modificationTime = std::filesystem::last_write_time(absolutePath(path, ""));
@@ -112,11 +119,13 @@ void CBackground::configure(const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::any>& pro
 }
 
 void CBackground::reset() {
+#ifdef HYPRLOCK_HAS_VIDEO
     if (m_videoBackend) {
         m_videoBackend.reset();
         m_videoTexture.destroyTexture();
         m_uploadBuffer.clear();
     }
+#endif
 
     if (reloadTimer) {
         reloadTimer->cancel();
@@ -243,6 +252,7 @@ void CBackground::renderToFB(const CTexture& tex, CFramebuffer& fb, int passes,
 }
 
 bool CBackground::draw(const SRenderData& data) {
+#ifdef HYPRLOCK_HAS_VIDEO
     // ── Video background fast path ────────────────────────────────────────
     if (m_videoBackend) {
         if (m_videoBackend->swapFrame(m_uploadBuffer)) {
@@ -286,6 +296,7 @@ bool CBackground::draw(const SRenderData& data) {
         return true; // always request the next compositor frame
     }
     // ── End video path ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+#endif
 
     updatePrimaryAsset();
     updatePendingAsset();
diff --git a/src/renderer/widgets/Background.hpp b/src/renderer/widgets/Background.hpp
index 0d5a9c5..f757b3e 100644
--- a/src/renderer/widgets/Background.hpp
+++ b/src/renderer/widgets/Background.hpp
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 #include "../../helpers/Color.hpp"
 #include "../../core/Timer.hpp"
 #include "../Framebuffer.hpp"
+#ifdef HYPRLOCK_HAS_VIDEO
 #include "../VideoBackend.hpp"
+#endif
 #include <hyprutils/math/Misc.hpp>
 #include <string>
 #include <unordered_map>
@@ -86,7 +88,9 @@ class CBackground : public IWidget {
     size_t                          m_imageRevision = 0;
 
     // Video playback
+#ifdef HYPRLOCK_HAS_VIDEO
     UP<CVideoBackend>       m_videoBackend;
     CTexture                m_videoTexture;
     std::vector<uint8_t>    m_uploadBuffer;
+#endif
 };