diff --git a/apps/rpicam_raw.cpp b/apps/rpicam_raw.cpp
index 9607a09e..3eade325 100644
--- a/apps/rpicam_raw.cpp
+++ b/apps/rpicam_raw.cpp
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		VideoOptions *options = app.GetOptions();
 		if (options->Parse(argc, argv))
 		{
+			// Disable any codec (h.264/libav) based operations.
+			options->codec = "yuv420";
 			options->denoise = "cdn_off";
 			options->nopreview = true;
 			if (options->verbose >= 2)
diff --git a/encoder/encoder.cpp b/encoder/encoder.cpp
index 486636a2..99a161a2 100644
--- a/encoder/encoder.cpp
+++ b/encoder/encoder.cpp
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include "libav_encoder.hpp"
 #endif
 
-Encoder *h264_codec_select(VideoOptions *options, const StreamInfo &info)
+bool bcm2835_encoder_available()
 {
 	const char hw_codec[] = "/dev/video11";
 	struct v4l2_capability caps;
@@ -32,8 +32,15 @@ Encoder *h264_codec_select(VideoOptions *options, const StreamInfo &info)
 		int ret = ioctl(fd, VIDIOC_QUERYCAP, &caps);
 		close(fd);
 		if (!ret && !strncmp((char *)caps.card, "bcm2835-codec-encode", sizeof(caps.card)))
-			return new H264Encoder(options, info);
+			return true;
 	}
+	return false;
+}
+
+static Encoder *h264_codec_select(VideoOptions *options, const StreamInfo &info)
+{
+	if (bcm2835_encoder_available())
+		return new H264Encoder(options, info);
 
 #if LIBAV_PRESENT
 	// No hardware codec available, use x264 through libav.
@@ -45,26 +52,15 @@ Encoder *h264_codec_select(VideoOptions *options, const StreamInfo &info)
 }
 
 #if LIBAV_PRESENT
-Encoder *libav_codec_select(VideoOptions *options, const StreamInfo &info)
+static Encoder *libav_codec_select(VideoOptions *options, const StreamInfo &info)
 {
 	if (options->libav_video_codec == "h264_v4l2m2m")
 	{
-		const char hw_codec[] = "/dev/video11";
-		struct v4l2_capability caps;
-		memset(&caps, 0, sizeof(caps));
-		int fd = open(hw_codec, O_RDWR, 0);
-		if (fd)
-		{
-			int ret = ioctl(fd, VIDIOC_QUERYCAP, &caps);
-			close(fd);
-			if (!ret && !strncmp((char *)caps.card, "bcm2835-codec-encode", sizeof(caps.card)))
+		if (bcm2835_encoder_available())
 				return new LibAvEncoder(options, info);
-		}
-
 		// No h264_v4l2m2m libav codec available, use libx264 if nothing else is provided.
 		options->libav_video_codec = "libx264";
 	}
-
 	return new LibAvEncoder(options, info);
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/output/output.cpp b/output/output.cpp
index de344788..93d31d65 100644
--- a/output/output.cpp
+++ b/output/output.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #include "net_output.hpp"
 #include "output.hpp"
 
+extern bool bcm2835_encoder_available();
+
 Output::Output(VideoOptions const *options)
 	: options_(options), fp_timestamps_(nullptr), state_(WAITING_KEYFRAME), time_offset_(0), last_timestamp_(0),
 	  buf_metadata_(std::cout.rdbuf()), of_metadata_()
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ void Output::outputBuffer(void *mem, size_t size, int64_t timestamp_us, uint32_t
 
 Output *Output::Create(VideoOptions const *options)
 {
-	if (options->codec == "libav")
+	if (options->codec == "libav" || (options->codec == "h264" && !bcm2835_encoder_available()))
 		return new Output(options);
 
 	if (strncmp(options->output.c_str(), "udp://", 6) == 0 || strncmp(options->output.c_str(), "tcp://", 6) == 0)