diff --git a/libavcodec/xan.c b/libavcodec/xan.c
index f21075c3bf..9e58a77f19 100644
--- a/libavcodec/xan.c
+++ b/libavcodec/xan.c
@@ -224,6 +224,8 @@ static inline void xan_wc3_copy_pixel_run(XanContext *s,
 
     palette_plane = s->current_frame.data[0];
     prev_palette_plane = s->last_frame.data[0];
+    if (!prev_palette_plane)
+        prev_palette_plane = palette_plane;
     stride = s->current_frame.linesize[0];
     line_inc = stride - width;
     curframe_index = y * stride + x;