diff --git a/src/lerobot/configs/default.py b/src/lerobot/configs/default.py
index be906edbd..e2902141e 100644
--- a/src/lerobot/configs/default.py
+++ b/src/lerobot/configs/default.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 
 from lerobot.transforms import ImageTransformsConfig
-from lerobot.utils.import_utils import get_safe_default_codec
+from lerobot.utils.import_utils import get_safe_default_video_backend
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class DatasetConfig:
     image_transforms: ImageTransformsConfig = field(default_factory=ImageTransformsConfig)
     revision: str | None = None
     use_imagenet_stats: bool = True
-    video_backend: str = field(default_factory=get_safe_default_codec)
+    video_backend: str = field(default_factory=get_safe_default_video_backend)
     # When True, video frames are returned as uint8 tensors (0-255) instead of float32 (0.0-1.0).
     # This reduces memory and speeds up DataLoader IPC. The training pipeline handles the conversion.
     return_uint8: bool = False
diff --git a/src/lerobot/datasets/lerobot_dataset.py b/src/lerobot/datasets/lerobot_dataset.py
index b6ab0f5f0..077e1efd1 100644
--- a/src/lerobot/datasets/lerobot_dataset.py
+++ b/src/lerobot/datasets/lerobot_dataset.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ from .utils import (
 )
 from .video_utils import (
     StreamingVideoEncoder,
-    get_safe_default_codec,
+    get_safe_default_video_backend,
     resolve_vcodec,
 )
 
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ class LeRobotDataset(torch.utils.data.Dataset):
         self.episodes = episodes
         self.tolerance_s = tolerance_s
         self.revision = revision if revision else CODEBASE_VERSION
-        self._video_backend = video_backend if video_backend else get_safe_default_codec()
+        self._video_backend = video_backend if video_backend else get_safe_default_video_backend()
         self._return_uint8 = return_uint8
         self._batch_encoding_size = batch_encoding_size
         self._vcodec = resolve_vcodec(vcodec)
@@ -690,7 +690,7 @@ class LeRobotDataset(torch.utils.data.Dataset):
         obj.image_transforms = None
         obj.delta_timestamps = None
         obj.episodes = None
-        obj._video_backend = video_backend if video_backend is not None else get_safe_default_codec()
+        obj._video_backend = video_backend if video_backend is not None else get_safe_default_video_backend()
         obj._return_uint8 = False
         obj._batch_encoding_size = batch_encoding_size
         obj._vcodec = vcodec
@@ -783,7 +783,7 @@ class LeRobotDataset(torch.utils.data.Dataset):
         obj.image_transforms = None
         obj.delta_timestamps = None
         obj.episodes = None
-        obj._video_backend = video_backend if video_backend else get_safe_default_codec()
+        obj._video_backend = video_backend if video_backend else get_safe_default_video_backend()
         obj._return_uint8 = False
         obj._batch_encoding_size = batch_encoding_size
         obj._vcodec = vcodec
diff --git a/src/lerobot/datasets/video_utils.py b/src/lerobot/datasets/video_utils.py
index 00ff09ee7..da1be142e 100644
--- a/src/lerobot/datasets/video_utils.py
+++ b/src/lerobot/datasets/video_utils.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import torch
 from datasets.features.features import register_feature
 from PIL import Image
 
-from lerobot.utils.import_utils import get_safe_default_codec
+from lerobot.utils.import_utils import get_safe_default_video_backend
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def decode_video_frames(
     Currently supports torchcodec on cpu and pyav.
     """
     if backend is None:
-        backend = get_safe_default_codec()
+        backend = get_safe_default_video_backend()
     if backend == "torchcodec":
         return decode_video_frames_torchcodec(video_path, timestamps, tolerance_s, return_uint8=return_uint8)
     elif backend == "pyav":
diff --git a/src/lerobot/utils/import_utils.py b/src/lerobot/utils/import_utils.py
index 6ba912bf5..a7e8c8b59 100644
--- a/src/lerobot/utils/import_utils.py
+++ b/src/lerobot/utils/import_utils.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def is_package_available(
         return package_exists
 
 
-def get_safe_default_codec():
+def get_safe_default_video_backend():
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
     if importlib.util.find_spec("torchcodec"):
         return "torchcodec"
diff --git a/tests/datasets/test_dataset_reader.py b/tests/datasets/test_dataset_reader.py
index bbe858b5d..085563bb8 100644
--- a/tests/datasets/test_dataset_reader.py
+++ b/tests/datasets/test_dataset_reader.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import pytest
 pytest.importorskip("datasets", reason="datasets is required (install lerobot[dataset])")
 
 from lerobot.datasets.dataset_reader import DatasetReader
-from lerobot.utils.import_utils import get_safe_default_codec
+from lerobot.utils.import_utils import get_safe_default_video_backend
 
 # ── Loading ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def test_try_load_returns_true_when_data_exists(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factor
         root=dataset.root,
         episodes=None,
         tolerance_s=1e-4,
-        video_backend=get_safe_default_codec(),
+        video_backend=get_safe_default_video_backend(),
         delta_timestamps=None,
         image_transforms=None,
     )
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def test_try_load_returns_false_when_no_data(tmp_path):
         root=meta.root,
         episodes=None,
         tolerance_s=1e-4,
-        video_backend=get_safe_default_codec(),
+        video_backend=get_safe_default_video_backend(),
         delta_timestamps=None,
         image_transforms=None,
     )