diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg.c b/fftools/ffmpeg.c
index 62ff1a98df..cf61706ac0 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg.c
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg.c
@@ -1566,9 +1566,7 @@ static void print_final_stats(int64_t total_size)
 static void print_report(int is_last_report, int64_t timer_start, int64_t cur_time)
 {
     AVBPrint buf, buf_script;
-    OutputStream *ost;
     int64_t total_size = of_filesize(output_files[0]);
-    AVCodecContext *enc;
     int vid, i;
     double bitrate;
     double speed;
@@ -1600,11 +1598,9 @@ static void print_report(int is_last_report, int64_t timer_start, int64_t cur_ti
     av_bprint_init(&buf, 0, AV_BPRINT_SIZE_AUTOMATIC);
     av_bprint_init(&buf_script, 0, AV_BPRINT_SIZE_AUTOMATIC);
     for (i = 0; i < nb_output_streams; i++) {
-        float q = -1;
-        ost = output_streams[i];
-        enc = ost->enc_ctx;
-        if (!ost->stream_copy)
-            q = ost->quality / (float) FF_QP2LAMBDA;
+        OutputStream         * const ost = output_streams[i];
+        const AVCodecContext * const enc = ost->enc_ctx;
+        const float q = enc ? ost->quality / (float) FF_QP2LAMBDA : -1;
 
         if (vid && ost->st->codecpar->codec_type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO) {
             av_bprintf(&buf, "q=%2.1f ", q);
@@ -3258,7 +3254,7 @@ static int init_output_stream(OutputStream *ost, AVFrame *frame,
         // copy estimated duration as a hint to the muxer
         if (ost->st->duration <= 0 && ist && ist->st->duration > 0)
             ost->st->duration = av_rescale_q(ist->st->duration, ist->st->time_base, ost->st->time_base);
-    } else if (ost->stream_copy) {
+    } else if (ost->source_index >= 0) {
         ret = init_output_stream_streamcopy(ost);
         if (ret < 0)
             return ret;
@@ -3343,7 +3339,7 @@ static int transcode_init(void)
      *   known after the encoder is initialized.
      */
     for (i = 0; i < nb_output_streams; i++) {
-        if (!output_streams[i]->stream_copy &&
+        if (output_streams[i]->enc_ctx &&
             (output_streams[i]->st->codecpar->codec_type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO ||
              output_streams[i]->st->codecpar->codec_type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_AUDIO))
             continue;
@@ -3417,9 +3413,7 @@ static int transcode_init(void)
             av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_INFO, " [sync #%d:%d]",
                    ost->sync_ist->file_index,
                    ost->sync_ist->st->index);
-        if (ost->stream_copy)
-            av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_INFO, " (copy)");
-        else {
+        if (ost->enc_ctx) {
             const AVCodec *in_codec    = input_streams[ost->source_index]->dec;
             const AVCodec *out_codec   = ost->enc;
             const char *decoder_name   = "?";
@@ -3449,7 +3443,8 @@ static int transcode_init(void)
             av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_INFO, " (%s (%s) -> %s (%s))",
                    in_codec_name, decoder_name,
                    out_codec_name, encoder_name);
-        }
+        } else
+            av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_INFO, " (copy)");
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_INFO, "\n");
     }
 
@@ -3959,7 +3954,7 @@ static int process_input(int file_index)
                 OutputStream *ost = output_streams[j];
 
                 if (ost->source_index == ifile->ist_index + i &&
-                    (ost->stream_copy || ost->enc->type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_SUBTITLE)) {
+                    (!ost->enc_ctx || ost->enc->type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_SUBTITLE)) {
                     OutputFile *of = output_files[ost->file_index];
                     output_packet(of, ost->pkt, ost, 1);
                 }
diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg.h b/fftools/ffmpeg.h
index 6417db03bd..713de42e2b 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg.h
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg.h
@@ -540,7 +540,6 @@ typedef struct OutputStream {
     char *apad;
     OSTFinished finished;        /* no more packets should be written for this stream */
     int unavailable;                     /* true if the steram is unavailable (possibly temporarily) */
-    int stream_copy;
 
     // init_output_stream() has been called for this stream
     // The encoder and the bitstream filters have been initialized and the stream
diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c b/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c
index 12cde4b617..784209e770 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg_opt.c
@@ -1555,16 +1555,13 @@ static int choose_encoder(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *s, OutputStream *o
                        avcodec_get_name(ost->st->codecpar->codec_id));
                 return AVERROR_ENCODER_NOT_FOUND;
             }
-        } else if (!strcmp(codec_name, "copy"))
-            ost->stream_copy = 1;
-        else {
+        } else if (strcmp(codec_name, "copy")) {
             ost->enc = find_codec_or_die(codec_name, ost->st->codecpar->codec_type, 1);
             ost->st->codecpar->codec_id = ost->enc->id;
         }
-        ost->encoding_needed = !ost->stream_copy;
+        ost->encoding_needed = !!ost->enc;
     } else {
         /* no encoding supported for other media types */
-        ost->stream_copy     = 1;
         ost->encoding_needed = 0;
     }
 
@@ -1898,7 +1895,7 @@ static OutputStream *new_video_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc, in
     MATCH_PER_STREAM_OPT(filter_scripts, str, ost->filters_script, oc, st);
     MATCH_PER_STREAM_OPT(filters,        str, ost->filters,        oc, st);
 
-    if (!ost->stream_copy) {
+    if (ost->enc_ctx) {
         AVCodecContext *video_enc = ost->enc_ctx;
         const char *p = NULL;
         char *frame_size = NULL;
@@ -2087,9 +2084,7 @@ static OutputStream *new_video_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc, in
         ost->last_frame = av_frame_alloc();
         if (!ost->last_frame)
             exit_program(1);
-    }
-
-    if (ost->stream_copy)
+    } else
         check_streamcopy_filters(o, oc, ost, AVMEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO);
 
     return ost;
@@ -2107,7 +2102,7 @@ static OutputStream *new_audio_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc, in
     MATCH_PER_STREAM_OPT(filter_scripts, str, ost->filters_script, oc, st);
     MATCH_PER_STREAM_OPT(filters,        str, ost->filters,        oc, st);
 
-    if (!ost->stream_copy) {
+    if (ost->enc_ctx) {
         AVCodecContext *audio_enc = ost->enc_ctx;
         int channels = 0;
         char *layout = NULL;
@@ -2186,9 +2181,7 @@ static OutputStream *new_audio_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc, in
             }
         }
 #endif
-    }
-
-    if (ost->stream_copy)
+    } else
         check_streamcopy_filters(o, oc, ost, AVMEDIA_TYPE_AUDIO);
 
     return ost;
@@ -2199,7 +2192,7 @@ static OutputStream *new_data_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc, int
     OutputStream *ost;
 
     ost = new_output_stream(o, oc, AVMEDIA_TYPE_DATA, source_index);
-    if (!ost->stream_copy) {
+    if (ost->enc_ctx) {
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_FATAL, "Data stream encoding not supported yet (only streamcopy)\n");
         exit_program(1);
     }
@@ -2212,7 +2205,7 @@ static OutputStream *new_unknown_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc,
     OutputStream *ost;
 
     ost = new_output_stream(o, oc, AVMEDIA_TYPE_UNKNOWN, source_index);
-    if (!ost->stream_copy) {
+    if (ost->enc_ctx) {
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_FATAL, "Unknown stream encoding not supported yet (only streamcopy)\n");
         exit_program(1);
     }
@@ -2223,7 +2216,6 @@ static OutputStream *new_unknown_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc,
 static OutputStream *new_attachment_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc, int source_index)
 {
     OutputStream *ost = new_output_stream(o, oc, AVMEDIA_TYPE_ATTACHMENT, source_index);
-    ost->stream_copy = 1;
     ost->finished    = 1;
     return ost;
 }
@@ -2236,7 +2228,7 @@ static OutputStream *new_subtitle_stream(OptionsContext *o, AVFormatContext *oc,
     ost = new_output_stream(o, oc, AVMEDIA_TYPE_SUBTITLE, source_index);
     st  = ost->st;
 
-    if (!ost->stream_copy) {
+    if (ost->enc_ctx) {
         AVCodecContext *subtitle_enc = ost->enc_ctx;
         char *frame_size = NULL;
 
@@ -2401,7 +2393,7 @@ static void init_output_filter(OutputFilter *ofilter, OptionsContext *o,
     ofilter->ost      = ost;
     ofilter->format   = -1;
 
-    if (ost->stream_copy) {
+    if (!ost->enc_ctx) {
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Streamcopy requested for output stream %d:%d, "
                "which is fed from a complex filtergraph. Filtering and streamcopy "
                "cannot be used together.\n", ost->file_index, ost->index);
@@ -2768,7 +2760,6 @@ static void of_add_attachments(AVFormatContext *oc, OptionsContext *o)
         memset(attachment + len, 0, AV_INPUT_BUFFER_PADDING_SIZE);
 
         ost = new_attachment_stream(o, oc, -1);
-        ost->stream_copy               = 0;
         ost->attachment_filename       = o->attachments[i];
         ost->st->codecpar->extradata      = attachment;
         ost->st->codecpar->extradata_size = len;
@@ -3068,7 +3059,7 @@ static int open_output_file(OptionsContext *o, const char *filename)
                     exit_program(1);
                 }
             }
-        } else if (ost->stream_copy && ost->source_index >= 0) {
+        } else if (ost->source_index >= 0) {
             InputStream *ist = input_streams[ost->source_index];
             ist->processing_needed = 1;
         }
@@ -3193,7 +3184,7 @@ static int open_output_file(OptionsContext *o, const char *filename)
                 continue;
             ist = input_streams[output_streams[i]->source_index];
             av_dict_copy(&output_streams[i]->st->metadata, ist->st->metadata, AV_DICT_DONT_OVERWRITE);
-            if (!output_streams[i]->stream_copy) {
+            if (output_streams[i]->enc_ctx) {
                 av_dict_set(&output_streams[i]->st->metadata, "encoder", NULL, 0);
             }
         }