diff --git a/cluster/services/warehouse/host.nix b/cluster/services/warehouse/host.nix
index de23352..91dcd7a 100644
--- a/cluster/services/warehouse/host.nix
+++ b/cluster/services/warehouse/host.nix
@@ -24,13 +24,17 @@ with tools.nginx;
     enable = true;
     package = pkgs.intel-media-driver;
   };
-  systemd.services.jellyfin.serviceConfig = {
-    # allow access to GPUs for hardware transcoding
-    DeviceAllow = lib.mkForce "char-drm";
-    BindPaths = lib.mkForce "/dev/dri";
-    # to allow restarting from web ui
-    Restart = lib.mkForce "always";
+  systemd.services.jellyfin = {
+    # if EncoderAppPath is manually set in the web UI, it can never be updated through --ffmpeg
+    preStart = "test ! -e /var/lib/jellyfin/config/encoding.xml || sed -i '/<EncoderAppPath>/d' /var/lib/jellyfin/config/encoding.xml";
+    serviceConfig = {
+      # allow access to GPUs for hardware transcoding
+      DeviceAllow = lib.mkForce "char-drm";
+      BindPaths = lib.mkForce "/dev/dri";
+      # to allow restarting from web ui
+      Restart = lib.mkForce "always";
 
-    Slice = "mediaplayback.slice";
+      Slice = "mediaplayback.slice";
+    };
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/checks/default.nix b/packages/checks/default.nix
index 02b9853..9d29bf2 100644
--- a/packages/checks/default.nix
+++ b/packages/checks/default.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,19 @@
-{ self, ... }:
+{ lib, self, ... }:
 
 {
-  perSystem = { filters, pkgs, self', ... }: {
+  perSystem = { filters, pkgs, self', ... }: let
+    fakeCluster = import ../../cluster {
+      inherit lib;
+      hostName = throw "not available in test environment";
+      depot = throw "not available in test environment";
+    };
+  in {
     checks = filters.doFilter filters.checks {
+      jellyfin-stateless = pkgs.callPackage ./jellyfin-stateless.nix {
+        inherit (self'.packages) jellyfin;
+        inherit fakeCluster;
+      };
+
       keycloak = pkgs.callPackage ./keycloak-custom-jre.nix {
         jre = self'.packages.jre17_standard;
       };
diff --git a/packages/checks/jellyfin-stateless.nix b/packages/checks/jellyfin-stateless.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c22e66e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/checks/jellyfin-stateless.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+{ nixosTest, fakeCluster, jellyfin }:
+
+nixosTest {
+  name = "jellyfin-stateless";
+  nodes = {
+    machine = {
+      imports = fakeCluster.config.services.warehouse.nixos.host;
+
+      _module.args.depot.packages.jellyfin = jellyfin;
+    };
+  };
+  testScript = /*python*/ ''
+    def start_jf():
+        machine.succeed("systemctl start jellyfin.service")
+        machine.wait_for_unit("jellyfin.service")
+        machine.wait_for_open_port(8096)
+        machine.wait_until_succeeds("curl --fail http://127.0.0.1:8096")
+
+    def stop_jf():
+        machine.succeed("systemctl stop jellyfin.service")
+
+    machine.wait_for_unit("jellyfin.service")
+
+    start_jf()
+    machine.succeed("sed -i 's,EncoderAppPathDisplay,EncoderAppPath,g' /var/lib/jellyfin/config/encoding.xml")
+    machine.succeed("sed -i 's,<EncoderAppPath>.*</EncoderAppPath>,<EncoderAppPath>/FAKE/bin/ffmpeg</EncoderAppPath>,g' /var/lib/jellyfin/config/encoding.xml")
+    stop_jf()
+    start_jf()
+
+    with subtest("should reset to real ffmpeg"):
+        machine.fail("grep -q '/FAKE/bin/ffmpeg' /var/lib/jellyfin/config/encoding.xml")
+        machine.succeed("grep -q '/nix/store/.*/bin/ffmpeg' /var/lib/jellyfin/config/encoding.xml")
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/packages/system-filter.nix b/packages/system-filter.nix
index cd519c6..f2f0f82 100644
--- a/packages/system-filter.nix
+++ b/packages/system-filter.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     tempo = [ "x86_64-linux" ];
   };
   checks = {
+    jellyfin-stateless = [ "x86_64-linux" ];
     keycloak = [ "x86_64-linux" ];
     patroni = [ "x86_64-linux" ];
     searxng = [ "x86_64-linux" ];