diff --git a/src/guacenc/display.c b/src/guacenc/display.c
index baf6845d..21af2183 100644
--- a/src/guacenc/display.c
+++ b/src/guacenc/display.c
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ cairo_operator_t guacenc_display_cairo_operator(guac_composite_mode mask) {
 guacenc_display* guacenc_display_alloc() {
 
     /* STUB: Prepare video encoding */
-    guacenc_video* video =
-        guacenc_video_alloc("/tmp/test.mpg", 640, 480, 25, 400000);
+    guacenc_video* video = guacenc_video_alloc("/tmp/test.mpg", "mpeg4",
+            640, 480, 25, 400000);
     if (video == NULL)
         return NULL;
 
diff --git a/src/guacenc/guacenc.c b/src/guacenc/guacenc.c
index c5b00efc..79b7d61d 100644
--- a/src/guacenc/guacenc.c
+++ b/src/guacenc/guacenc.c
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 #include "encode.h"
 #include "log.h"
 
+#include <libavcodec/avcodec.h>
+
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 
     int i;
@@ -39,6 +41,9 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
         return 0;
     }
 
+    /* Prepare libavcodec */
+    avcodec_register_all();
+
     /* Track number of overall failures */
     int total_files = argc - 1;
     int failures = 0;
diff --git a/src/guacenc/video.c b/src/guacenc/video.c
index 6c803e7a..e7a4dfd3 100644
--- a/src/guacenc/video.c
+++ b/src/guacenc/video.c
@@ -22,22 +22,32 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 #include "buffer.h"
+#include "log.h"
 #include "video.h"
 
+#include <libavcodec/avcodec.h>
+#include <guacamole/client.h>
 #include <guacamole/timestamp.h>
 
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
-guacenc_video* guacenc_video_alloc(const char* path, int width, int height,
-        int framerate, int bitrate) {
+guacenc_video* guacenc_video_alloc(const char* path, const char* codec_name,
+        int width, int height, int framerate, int bitrate) {
 
     /* Allocate video structure */
     guacenc_video* video = malloc(sizeof(guacenc_video));
     if (video == NULL)
         return NULL;
 
+    AVCodec* codec = avcodec_find_encoder_by_name(codec_name);
+    if (codec == NULL) {
+        guacenc_log(GUAC_LOG_ERROR, "Failed to locate codec: \"%s\"",
+                codec_name);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     /* Init properties of video */
     video->width = width;
     video->height = height;
diff --git a/src/guacenc/video.h b/src/guacenc/video.h
index f333df70..b5a27498 100644
--- a/src/guacenc/video.h
+++ b/src/guacenc/video.h
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ typedef struct guacenc_video {
  * @param path
  *     The full path to the file in which encoded video should be written.
  *
+ * @param codec_name
+ *     The name of the codec to use for the video encoding, as defined by
+ *     ffmpeg / libavcodec.
+ *
  * @param width
  *     The width of the desired video, in pixels.
  *
@@ -102,8 +106,8 @@ typedef struct guacenc_video {
  *     The desired overall bitrate of the resulting encoded video, in kilobits
  *     per second.
  */
-guacenc_video* guacenc_video_alloc(const char* path, int width, int height,
-        int framerate, int bitrate);
+guacenc_video* guacenc_video_alloc(const char* path, const char* codec_name,
+        int width, int height, int framerate, int bitrate);
 
 /**
  * Advances the timeline of the encoding process to the given timestamp, such