diff --git a/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/download/hls/MergedFfmpegHlsDownload.java b/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/download/hls/MergedFfmpegHlsDownload.java
index 4343e52e..0647682e 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/download/hls/MergedFfmpegHlsDownload.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/download/hls/MergedFfmpegHlsDownload.java
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ public class MergedFfmpegHlsDownload extends AbstractHlsDownload {
     private transient Process ffmpeg;
     private transient OutputStream ffmpegStdIn;
     private transient Thread ffmpegThread;
+    private transient Object ffmpegStartMonitor = new Object();
 
     public MergedFfmpegHlsDownload(HttpClient client) {
         super(client);
@@ -85,9 +86,21 @@ public class MergedFfmpegHlsDownload extends AbstractHlsDownload {
 
             Files.createDirectories(targetFile.getParentFile().toPath());
             startFfmpegProcess(targetFile);
+            synchronized (ffmpegStartMonitor) {
+                int tries = 0;
+                while (ffmpeg == null && tries++ < 15) {
+                    LOG.debug("Waiting for FFmpeg to spawn to record {}", model.getName());
+                    ffmpegStartMonitor.wait(1000);
+                }
+            }
 
-            downloadSegments(segments, true);
-            ffmpegThread.join();
+            if (ffmpeg == null) {
+                throw new ProcessExitedUncleanException("Couldn't spawn FFmpeg");
+            } else {
+                LOG.debug("Starting to download segments");
+                downloadSegments(segments, true);
+                ffmpegThread.join();
+            }
         } catch (ParseException e) {
             throw new IOException("Couldn't parse stream information", e);
         } catch (PlaylistException e) {
@@ -125,6 +138,9 @@ public class MergedFfmpegHlsDownload extends AbstractHlsDownload {
 
                 LOG.debug("Command line: {}", Arrays.toString(cmdline));
                 ffmpeg = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmdline, new String[0], target.getParentFile());
+                synchronized (ffmpegStartMonitor) {
+                    ffmpegStartMonitor.notifyAll();
+                }
                 ffmpegStdIn = ffmpeg.getOutputStream();
                 int exitCode = 1;
                 File ffmpegLog = File.createTempFile(target.getName(), ".log");