diff --git a/lbry/file_analysis.py b/lbry/file_analysis.py
index 3b9a25878..550ffc6a1 100644
--- a/lbry/file_analysis.py
+++ b/lbry/file_analysis.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import re
 import shlex
 import shutil
 import platform
+
+import lbry.utils
 from lbry.conf import TranscodeConfig
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -28,7 +30,9 @@ class VideoFileAnalyzer:
         self._which = None
         self._checked_ffmpeg = False
         self._env_copy = dict(os.environ)
-        self._replace_or_pop_env('LD_LIBRARY_PATH')
+        if lbry.utils.is_running_from_bundle():
+            # handle the situation where PyInstaller overrides our runtime environment:
+            self._replace_or_pop_env('LD_LIBRARY_PATH')
 
     async def _execute(self, command, arguments):
         if DISABLED:
diff --git a/lbry/utils.py b/lbry/utils.py
index 65d33b3e2..c24d8a971 100644
--- a/lbry/utils.py
+++ b/lbry/utils.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import datetime
 import random
 import socket
 import string
+import sys
 import json
 import typing
 import asyncio
@@ -276,3 +277,8 @@ async def get_external_ip() -> typing.Optional[str]:  # used if upnp is disabled
                 return response['data']['ip']
     except Exception:
         return
+
+
+def is_running_from_bundle():
+    # see https://pyinstaller.readthedocs.io/en/stable/runtime-information.html
+    return getattr(sys, 'frozen', False) and hasattr(sys, '_MEIPASS')