diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 68f8f61..a3070b7 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1687,7 +1687,16 @@ fn create_thumbnails(libs: &[libraries::Library], excluded_dirs: &[String]) {
                     ]);
 
                     debug!("Generating video thumbnail: {:?}", thumb_path);
-                    generate_video_thumbnail(src, &thumb_path);
+                    if let Err(e) = generate_video_thumbnail(src, &thumb_path) {
+                        let sentinel = unsupported_thumbnail_sentinel(&thumb_path);
+                        error!(
+                            "Unable to thumbnail video {:?}: {}. Writing sentinel {:?}",
+                            src, e, sentinel
+                        );
+                        if let Err(se) = std::fs::write(&sentinel, b"") {
+                            warn!("Failed to write sentinel {:?}: {}", sentinel, se);
+                        }
+                    }
                     video_span.end();
                 } else if is_image(&entry) {
                     match generate_image_thumbnail(src, &thumb_path) {
diff --git a/src/video/actors.rs b/src/video/actors.rs
index c7300ef..7722a5d 100644
--- a/src/video/actors.rs
+++ b/src/video/actors.rs
@@ -107,19 +107,27 @@ pub async fn create_playlist(video_path: &str, playlist_file: &str) -> Result<Ch
     result
 }
 
-pub fn generate_video_thumbnail(path: &Path, destination: &Path) {
-    Command::new("ffmpeg")
+pub fn generate_video_thumbnail(path: &Path, destination: &Path) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    let output = Command::new("ffmpeg")
         .arg("-ss")
         .arg("3")
         .arg("-i")
-        .arg(path.to_str().unwrap())
+        .arg(path)
         .arg("-vframes")
         .arg("1")
         .arg("-f")
         .arg("image2")
         .arg(destination)
-        .output()
-        .expect("Failure to create video frame");
+        .output()?;
+
+    if !output.status.success() {
+        return Err(std::io::Error::other(format!(
+            "ffmpeg failed ({}): {}",
+            output.status,
+            String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr).trim()
+        )));
+    }
+    Ok(())
 }
 
 /// Use ffmpeg to extract a 200px-wide thumbnail from formats the `image` crate