--- a/src/gui.c
+++ b/src/gui.c
@@ -7470,7 +7470,7 @@
         filename = g_strdup_printf("%s/00000001.jpg", dirname);
         g_free(basepath);
         // run mplayer and try to get the first frame and convert it to a jpeg
-        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("-vo");
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("jpeg:outdir=%s", dirname);
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("-ao");
--- a/src/property_page_common.c
+++ b/src/property_page_common.c
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
     MetaData *ret;
     ret = g_new0(MetaData, 1);
 
-    av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+    av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
     av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("-vo");
     av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("null");
     av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("-ao");
--- a/src/support.c
+++ b/src/support.c
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@
     } else {
         playlist = FALSE;
         if (mplayer_bin == NULL || !g_file_test(mplayer_bin, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-            av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+            av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
         } else {
             av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", mplayer_bin);
         }
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@
         playlist = FALSE;
         // run mplayer and try to get the first frame and convert it to a jpeg
         if (mplayer_bin == NULL || !g_file_test(mplayer_bin, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-            av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+            av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
         } else {
             av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", mplayer_bin);
         }
@@ -825,7 +825,7 @@
         playlist = FALSE;
 
         if (mplayer_bin == NULL || !g_file_test(mplayer_bin, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-            av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+            av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
         } else {
             av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", mplayer_bin);
         }
@@ -1251,7 +1251,7 @@
     gm_log(verbose, G_LOG_LEVEL_INFO, "getting file metadata for %s", name);
 
     if (mplayer_bin == NULL || !g_file_test(mplayer_bin, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
     } else {
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", mplayer_bin);
     }
@@ -1532,7 +1532,7 @@
         return 0;
 
     if (mplayer_bin == NULL || !g_file_test(mplayer_bin, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
     } else {
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", mplayer_bin);
     }
@@ -1597,7 +1597,7 @@
 
     if (control_id == 0) {
         ac = 0;
-        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mencoder");
+        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mencoder@");
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("-ovc");
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("copy");
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("-oac");
@@ -2830,7 +2830,7 @@
     gboolean ret = TRUE;
 
     if (mplayer_bin == NULL || !g_file_test(mplayer_bin, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("mplayer");
+        av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("@mplayer@");
     } else {
         av[ac++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", mplayer_bin);
     }