diff --git a/third_party/ffmpeg/single/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/ffmpeg/single/CMakeLists.txt
index b3246c0828..316f19d35e 100644
--- a/third_party/ffmpeg/single/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/ffmpeg/single/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,29 +3,36 @@
 message(STATUS "Searching existing FFmpeg installation")
 message(STATUS FFMPEG_ROOT=$ENV{FFMPEG_ROOT})
 if (NOT DEFINED ENV{FFMPEG_ROOT})
-  message(FATAL_ERROR "Environment variable FFMPEG_ROOT is not set.")
+  message(STATUS "FFMPEG_ROOT not set, will search system paths")
 endif()
 
+# Maintain FFMPEG_ROOT approach and add common system paths
 set(_root $ENV{FFMPEG_ROOT})
-set(lib_dirs "${_root}/lib" "${_root}/bin")
-set(include_dir "${_root}/include")
+set(lib_dirs "${_root}/lib" "${_root}/bin" "/usr/lib64" "/usr/lib" "/usr/local/lib64" "/usr/local/lib")
+set(include_dir "${_root}/include" "/usr/include/ffmpeg" "/usr/include" "/usr/local/include")
+
+# Add multiarch paths for Debian/Ubuntu
+execute_process(COMMAND gcc -print-multiarch OUTPUT_VARIABLE MULTIARCH_TRIPLET
+               OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE ERROR_QUIET)
+if(MULTIARCH_TRIPLET)
+  list(APPEND lib_dirs "/usr/lib/${MULTIARCH_TRIPLET}")
+  list(APPEND include_dir "/usr/include/${MULTIARCH_TRIPLET}")
+endif()
 
 add_library(ffmpeg INTERFACE)
-target_include_directories(ffmpeg INTERFACE "${include_dir}")
+target_include_directories(ffmpeg INTERFACE ${include_dir})
 
 function (_find_ffmpeg_lib component)
   find_path("${component}_header"
     NAMES "lib${component}/${component}.h"
-    PATHS "${include_dir}"
+    PATHS ${include_dir}
     DOC "The include directory for ${component}"
-    REQUIRED
-    NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+    REQUIRED)
   find_library("lib${component}"
     NAMES "${component}"
     PATHS ${lib_dirs}
     DOC "${component} library"
-    REQUIRED
-    NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+    REQUIRED)
   message(STATUS "Found ${component}: ${lib${component}}")
   target_link_libraries(
     ffmpeg