diff --git a/libavcodec/a64multienc.c b/libavcodec/a64multienc.c
index d692ebfdef..888b87be1a 100644
--- a/libavcodec/a64multienc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/a64multienc.c
@@ -317,7 +317,9 @@ static int a64multi_encode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVPacket *pkt,
     } else {
         /* fill up mc_meta_charset with data until lifetime exceeds */
         if (c->mc_frame_counter < c->mc_lifetime) {
-            *p = *pict;
+            ret = av_frame_ref(p, pict);
+            if (ret < 0)
+                return ret;
             p->pict_type = AV_PICTURE_TYPE_I;
             p->key_frame = 1;
             to_meta_with_crop(avctx, p, meta + 32000 * c->mc_frame_counter);