diff --git a/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh b/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
index 2693a5ed..fc1c77b5 100644
--- a/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
+++ b/pi/bin/video-publisher.sh
@@ -29,17 +29,16 @@ VIDEO_HEIGHT="${VIDEO_HEIGHT:-1080}"
 VIDEO_FPS="${VIDEO_FPS:-30}"
 VIDEO_BITRATE="${VIDEO_BITRATE:-3000000}"
 AUDIO_ENABLE="${AUDIO_ENABLE:-0}"
-AUDIO_FIFO="${AUDIO_FIFO:-/var/lib/roverd/audio.pcm}"
+AUDIO_DEVICE="${AUDIO_DEVICE:-hw:0,0}"
 AUDIO_CODEC="libopus"
 # Raw PCM from the capture FIFO; transcode to low-bitrate Opus for TS/mediamtx/WHEP compatibility.
-AUDIO_DEVICE="${AUDIO_DEVICE:-hw:0,0}"
 AUDIO_RATE="${AUDIO_RATE:-48000}"
 AUDIO_CHANNELS="${AUDIO_CHANNELS:-2}"
 # Output params (tuned for low CPU/bandwidth).
 AUDIO_OUT_RATE="${AUDIO_OUT_RATE:-16000}"
 AUDIO_OUT_CHANNELS="${AUDIO_OUT_CHANNELS:-1}"
 AUDIO_BITRATE="${AUDIO_BITRATE:-32000}"
-AUDIO_FORMAT="${AUDIO_FORMAT:-s32le}"
+AUDIO_FORMAT="${AUDIO_FORMAT:-alsa}"
 # Flip the camera 180deg (supported by rpicam-vid/libcamera-vid)
 FLIP_ARGS=(--rotation 180)
 
@@ -65,14 +64,6 @@ fi
 
 run_pipeline() {
 	if [[ "${AUDIO_ENABLE}" -eq 1 ]]; then
-		if [[ ! -p "${AUDIO_FIFO}" ]]; then
-			echo "Audio FIFO ${AUDIO_FIFO} missing; falling back to video-only" >&2
-			AUDIO_ENABLE=0
-		fi
-	fi
-
-	if [[ "${AUDIO_ENABLE}" -eq 1 ]]; then
-		# Try audio + video; if FIFO is missing/empty, fallback to video-only.
 		if ! "${LIBCAMERA_BIN_PATH}" \
 			--inline \
 			--timeout 0 \
@@ -99,10 +90,11 @@ run_pipeline() {
 				-f h264 \
 				-i pipe:0 \
 				-thread_queue_size 512 \
-				-f "${AUDIO_FORMAT}" \
+				-f alsa \
+				-guess_layout_max 0 \
 				-ar "${AUDIO_RATE}" \
 				-ac "${AUDIO_CHANNELS}" \
-				-i "${AUDIO_FIFO}" \
+				-i "${AUDIO_DEVICE}" \
 				-map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 \
 				-c:v copy \
 				-c:a "${AUDIO_CODEC}" \
diff --git a/pi/install_roverd.sh b/pi/install_roverd.sh
index 59555acd..71e716d8 100755
--- a/pi/install_roverd.sh
+++ b/pi/install_roverd.sh
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ install -D -o root -g root -m 0755 pi/bin/video-publisher.sh /usr/local/bin/vide
 log "Installed video-publisher helper"
 install -m 0644 pi/systemd/video-publisher.service /etc/systemd/system/video-publisher.service
 log "Installed video-publisher systemd unit"
-# Install audio capture assets (arecord -> FIFO)
+# Install audio capture assets (arecord -> FIFO) [optional, not enabled by default]
 install -D -o root -g root -m 0755 pi/bin/audio-capture.sh /usr/local/bin/audio-capture
 install -m 0644 pi/systemd/audio-capture.service /etc/systemd/system/audio-capture.service
 log "Installed audio-capture helper + systemd unit"
@@ -233,15 +233,13 @@ install_audio_support
 
 systemctl daemon-reload
 systemctl enable roverd.service
-systemctl enable audio-capture.service
 systemctl enable video-publisher.service
 if [[ $CONFIG_EXISTS -eq 1 ]]; then
 	systemctl restart roverd.service
-	systemctl restart audio-capture.service
 	systemctl restart video-publisher.service
-	log "Restarted roverd, audio-capture, video publisher"
+	log "Restarted roverd + video publisher"
 else
-	log "Skipped auto-start because config is the sample; edit $CONFIG_DEST then run: sudo systemctl restart roverd audio-capture video-publisher"
+	log "Skipped auto-start because config is the sample; edit $CONFIG_DEST then run: sudo systemctl restart roverd video-publisher"
 fi
 
 log "Install complete"
diff --git a/pi/systemd/video-publisher.service b/pi/systemd/video-publisher.service
index 818526f7..761f8bd5 100644
--- a/pi/systemd/video-publisher.service
+++ b/pi/systemd/video-publisher.service
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=Rover Video Publisher (libcamera -> SRT)
-After=network-online.target roverd.service audio-capture.service
-Wants=network-online.target audio-capture.service
+After=network-online.target roverd.service
+Wants=network-online.target
 
 [Service]
 Type=simple