diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 01248787b..9d89c75b7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -211,6 +211,20 @@ format you want. Refer to Nvidia's GPU support matrix for more details
    conda install -c conda-forge "torchcodec=*=*cuda*"
    ```
 
+### Specify FFmpeg Path Manually
+If torchcodec cannot detect the FFmpeg installation correctly, you can set the `TORCHCODEC_FFMPEG_DIR` environment variable to the directory containing the FFmpeg shared libraries.
+
+For example, in conda environments this is typically:
+
+```bash
+# Conda on Linux/macOS
+export TORCHCODEC_FFMPEG_DIR="$CONDA_PREFIX/lib"
+```
+```powershell
+# Conda on Windows
+$env:TORCHCODEC_FFMPEG_DIR = "$env:CONDA_PREFIX\Library\bin"
+```
+
 ## Benchmark Results
 
 The following was generated by running [our benchmark script](./benchmarks/decoders/generate_readme_data.py) on a lightly loaded 22-core machine with an Nvidia A100 with
diff --git a/src/torchcodec/_core/ops.py b/src/torchcodec/_core/ops.py
index 7a5c9dc33..a7040b0bd 100644
--- a/src/torchcodec/_core/ops.py
+++ b/src/torchcodec/_core/ops.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 # LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
 
 
+import ctypes
+import glob
 import io
 import json
 import os
@@ -22,13 +24,30 @@
 
 
 expose_ffmpeg_dlls = nullcontext
-if sys.platform == "win32" and hasattr(os, "add_dll_directory"):
+if ffmpeg_dir := os.getenv("TORCHCODEC_FFMPEG_DIR"):
+    if hasattr(os, "add_dll_directory"):
+
+        def expose_ffmpeg_dlls():  # type: ignore[no-redef]  # noqa: F811
+            return os.add_dll_directory(str(ffmpeg_dir))
+
+    else:
+        ffmpeg_library_glob = "*.dylib" if sys.platform == "darwin" else "*.so*"
+        ffmpeg_library_paths = glob.glob(os.path.join(ffmpeg_dir, ffmpeg_library_glob))
+        if not ffmpeg_library_paths:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                "TORCHCODEC_FFMPEG_DIR is set, but no FFmpeg shared libraries "
+                f"were found in {repr(ffmpeg_dir)}."
+            )
+        for ffmpeg_library_path in ffmpeg_library_paths:
+            ctypes.CDLL(ffmpeg_library_path)
+
+elif sys.platform == "win32" and hasattr(os, "add_dll_directory"):
     # On windows we try to locate the FFmpeg DLLs and temporarily add them to
     # the DLL search path. This seems to be needed on some users machine, but
     # not on our CI. We don't know why.
     if ffmpeg_path := shutil.which("ffmpeg"):
 
-        def expose_ffmpeg_dlls():  # noqa: F811
+        def expose_ffmpeg_dlls():  # type: ignore[no-redef]  # noqa: F811
             ffmpeg_dir = Path(ffmpeg_path).parent.absolute()
             return os.add_dll_directory(str(ffmpeg_dir))  # that's the actual CM