diff --git a/docker/main/Dockerfile b/docker/main/Dockerfile
index c512ceb848..8cea06f4a9 100644
--- a/docker/main/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/main/Dockerfile
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ ENV PATH="/usr/local/go2rtc/bin:/usr/local/tempio/bin:/usr/local/nginx/sbin:${PA
 RUN --mount=type=bind,source=docker/main/install_deps.sh,target=/deps/install_deps.sh \
     /deps/install_deps.sh
 
-ENV DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION="7.0"
+ENV DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION="8.0"
 ENV INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS="${DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION}:5.0"
 
 RUN wget -q https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -O get-pip.py \
diff --git a/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/ffmpeg/get_ffmpeg_path.py b/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/ffmpeg/get_ffmpeg_path.py
index 0f492cc5c5..9f4d08f2e3 100644
--- a/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/ffmpeg/get_ffmpeg_path.py
+++ b/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/ffmpeg/get_ffmpeg_path.py
@@ -5,11 +5,7 @@ from typing import Any
 from ruamel.yaml import YAML
 
 sys.path.insert(0, "/opt/frigate")
-from frigate.const import (
-    DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION,
-    INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS,
-)
-from frigate.util.config import find_config_file
+from frigate.util.config import find_config_file, resolve_ffmpeg_path
 
 sys.path.remove("/opt/frigate")
 
@@ -29,9 +25,4 @@ except FileNotFoundError:
     config: dict[str, Any] = {}
 
 path = config.get("ffmpeg", {}).get("path", "default")
-if path == "default":
-    print(f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION}/bin/ffmpeg")
-elif path in INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS:
-    print(f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{path}/bin/ffmpeg")
-else:
-    print(f"{path}/bin/ffmpeg")
+print(resolve_ffmpeg_path(path, "ffmpeg"))
diff --git a/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/go2rtc/create_config.py b/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/go2rtc/create_config.py
index 5796a58aad..2b0fe3c925 100644
--- a/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/go2rtc/create_config.py
+++ b/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/go2rtc/create_config.py
@@ -11,12 +11,10 @@ sys.path.insert(0, "/opt/frigate")
 from frigate.config.env import substitute_frigate_vars
 from frigate.const import (
     BIRDSEYE_PIPE,
-    DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION,
-    INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS,
     LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR,
 )
 from frigate.ffmpeg_presets import parse_preset_hardware_acceleration_encode
-from frigate.util.config import find_config_file
+from frigate.util.config import find_config_file, resolve_ffmpeg_path
 from frigate.util.services import is_restricted_go2rtc_source
 
 sys.path.remove("/opt/frigate")
@@ -81,12 +79,7 @@ if go2rtc_config.get("rtsp", {}).get("password") is not None:
 
 # ensure ffmpeg path is set correctly
 path = config.get("ffmpeg", {}).get("path", "default")
-if path == "default":
-    ffmpeg_path = f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION}/bin/ffmpeg"
-elif path in INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS:
-    ffmpeg_path = f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{path}/bin/ffmpeg"
-else:
-    ffmpeg_path = f"{path}/bin/ffmpeg"
+ffmpeg_path = resolve_ffmpeg_path(path, "ffmpeg")
 
 if go2rtc_config.get("ffmpeg") is None:
     go2rtc_config["ffmpeg"] = {"bin": ffmpeg_path}
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/reference.md b/docs/docs/configuration/reference.md
index 3749697876..0559b37569 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/reference.md
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/reference.md
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ birdseye:
 # More information about presets at https://docs.frigate.video/configuration/ffmpeg_presets
 ffmpeg:
   # Optional: ffmpeg binary path (default: shown below)
-  # can also be set to `7.0` or `5.0` to specify one of the included versions
+  # can also be set to `8.0` or `5.0` to specify one of the included versions
   # or can be set to any path that holds `bin/ffmpeg` & `bin/ffprobe`
   path: "default"
   # Optional: global ffmpeg args (default: shown below)
diff --git a/frigate/config/camera/ffmpeg.py b/frigate/config/camera/ffmpeg.py
index 05769dc66d..6341cbcd13 100644
--- a/frigate/config/camera/ffmpeg.py
+++ b/frigate/config/camera/ffmpeg.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from typing import Union
 
 from pydantic import Field, field_validator
 
-from frigate.const import DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION, INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS
+from frigate.util.config import resolve_ffmpeg_path
 
 from ..base import FrigateBaseModel
 from ..env import EnvString
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class FfmpegConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
     path: str = Field(
         default="default",
         title="FFmpeg path",
-        description='Path to the FFmpeg binary to use or a version alias ("5.0" or "7.0").',
+        description='Path to the FFmpeg binary to use or a version alias ("5.0" or "8.0").',
     )
     global_args: Union[str, list[str]] = Field(
         default=FFMPEG_GLOBAL_ARGS_DEFAULT,
@@ -90,21 +90,11 @@ class FfmpegConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
 
     @property
     def ffmpeg_path(self) -> str:
-        if self.path == "default":
-            return f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION}/bin/ffmpeg"
-        elif self.path in INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS:
-            return f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{self.path}/bin/ffmpeg"
-        else:
-            return f"{self.path}/bin/ffmpeg"
+        return resolve_ffmpeg_path(self.path, "ffmpeg")
 
     @property
     def ffprobe_path(self) -> str:
-        if self.path == "default":
-            return f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION}/bin/ffprobe"
-        elif self.path in INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS:
-            return f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{self.path}/bin/ffprobe"
-        else:
-            return f"{self.path}/bin/ffprobe"
+        return resolve_ffmpeg_path(self.path, "ffprobe")
 
 
 class CameraRoleEnum(str, Enum):
diff --git a/frigate/record/export.py b/frigate/record/export.py
index 3a943cb3fe..e89742b1ab 100644
--- a/frigate/record/export.py
+++ b/frigate/record/export.py
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ class RecordingExporter(threading.Thread):
 
             diff = max(0.0, float(self.start_time) - float(preview.start_time))
             ffmpeg_cmd = [
-                "/usr/lib/ffmpeg/7.0/bin/ffmpeg",  # hardcode path for exports thumbnail due to missing libwebp support
+                "/usr/lib/ffmpeg/8.0/bin/ffmpeg",  # hardcode path for exports thumbnail due to missing libwebp support
                 "-hide_banner",
                 "-loglevel",
                 "warning",
diff --git a/frigate/util/classification.py b/frigate/util/classification.py
index 66bacdeb04..30fc4c6687 100644
--- a/frigate/util/classification.py
+++ b/frigate/util/classification.py
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ def collect_state_classification_examples(
 
     # Step 3: Extract keyframes from recordings with crops applied
     keyframes = _extract_keyframes(
-        "/usr/lib/ffmpeg/7.0/bin/ffmpeg", timestamps, temp_dir, cameras
+        "/usr/lib/ffmpeg/8.0/bin/ffmpeg", timestamps, temp_dir, cameras
     )
 
     # Step 4: Select 24 most visually distinct images (they're already cropped)
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ def _extract_keyframes(
         relative_time = timestamp - recording.start_time
 
         try:
-            config = FfmpegConfig(path="/usr/lib/ffmpeg/7.0")
+            config = FfmpegConfig(path="/usr/lib/ffmpeg/8.0")
             image_data = get_image_from_recording(
                 config,
                 recording.path,
diff --git a/frigate/util/config.py b/frigate/util/config.py
index 186730dbfb..5a4f3816c0 100644
--- a/frigate/util/config.py
+++ b/frigate/util/config.py
@@ -8,7 +8,13 @@ from typing import Any, Optional, Union
 
 from ruamel.yaml import YAML
 
-from frigate.const import CONFIG_DIR, EXPORT_DIR, REDACTED_CREDENTIAL_SENTINEL
+from frigate.const import (
+    CONFIG_DIR,
+    DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION,
+    EXPORT_DIR,
+    INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS,
+    REDACTED_CREDENTIAL_SENTINEL,
+)
 from frigate.util.builtin import deep_merge
 from frigate.util.services import get_video_properties
 
@@ -18,6 +24,26 @@ CURRENT_CONFIG_VERSION = "0.18-0"
 DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE = os.path.join(CONFIG_DIR, "config.yml")
 
 
+def resolve_ffmpeg_path(path: str, binary: str = "ffmpeg") -> str:
+    """Resolve an ffmpeg version alias or custom path to a binary path.
+
+    A bare version alias that is no longer bundled (for example one that was
+    dropped when the default version changed) falls back to the default
+    bundled version so existing configs keep working across an upgrade or a
+    revert. Custom install paths (anything absolute) are used as-is.
+    """
+    if path == "default" or (
+        not path.startswith("/") and path not in INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS
+    ):
+        version = DEFAULT_FFMPEG_VERSION
+    elif path in INCLUDED_FFMPEG_VERSIONS:
+        version = path
+    else:
+        return f"{path}/bin/{binary}"
+
+    return f"/usr/lib/ffmpeg/{version}/bin/{binary}"
+
+
 def redact_credential(obj: dict[str, Any], key: str) -> None:
     """Replace obj[key] with the redaction sentinel if a value is saved, else drop.