diff --git a/libavcodec/qtrleenc.c b/libavcodec/qtrleenc.c
index 29deb2123e..bfd988af5b 100644
--- a/libavcodec/qtrleenc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/qtrleenc.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 typedef struct QtrleEncContext {
     AVCodecContext *avctx;
     int pixel_size;
-    AVPicture previous_frame;
+    AVFrame *previous_frame;
     unsigned int max_buf_size;
     /**
      * This array will contain at ith position the value of the best RLE code
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ static av_cold int qtrle_encode_end(AVCodecContext *avctx)
 {
     QtrleEncContext *s = avctx->priv_data;
 
-    avpicture_free(&s->previous_frame);
+    av_frame_free(&s->previous_frame);
     av_free(s->rlecode_table);
     av_free(s->length_table);
     av_free(s->skip_table);
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ static av_cold int qtrle_encode_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
         av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Error allocating memory.\n");
         return -1;
     }
-    if (avpicture_alloc(&s->previous_frame, avctx->pix_fmt, avctx->width, avctx->height) < 0) {
+    s->previous_frame = av_frame_alloc();
+    if (!s->previous_frame) {
         av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Error allocating picture\n");
         return -1;
     }
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ static void qtrle_encode_line(QtrleEncContext *s, const AVFrame *p, int line, ui
 
     uint8_t *this_line = p->               data[0] + line*p->               linesize[0] +
         (width - 1)*s->pixel_size;
-    uint8_t *prev_line = s->previous_frame.data[0] + line*s->previous_frame.linesize[0] +
+    uint8_t *prev_line = s->previous_frame->data[0] + line * s->previous_frame->linesize[0] +
         (width - 1)*s->pixel_size;
 
     s->length_table[width] = 0;
@@ -262,13 +263,13 @@ static int encode_frame(QtrleEncContext *s, const AVFrame *p, uint8_t *buf)
         unsigned line_size = s->avctx->width * s->pixel_size;
         for (start_line = 0; start_line < s->avctx->height; start_line++)
             if (memcmp(p->data[0] + start_line*p->linesize[0],
-                       s->previous_frame.data[0] + start_line*s->previous_frame.linesize[0],
+                       s->previous_frame->data[0] + start_line * s->previous_frame->linesize[0],
                        line_size))
                 break;
 
         for (end_line=s->avctx->height; end_line > start_line; end_line--)
             if (memcmp(p->data[0] + (end_line - 1)*p->linesize[0],
-                       s->previous_frame.data[0] + (end_line - 1)*s->previous_frame.linesize[0],
+                       s->previous_frame->data[0] + (end_line - 1) * s->previous_frame->linesize[0],
                        line_size))
                 break;
     }
@@ -318,8 +319,12 @@ static int qtrle_encode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVPacket *pkt,
     pkt->size = encode_frame(s, pict, pkt->data);
 
     /* save the current frame */
-    av_picture_copy(&s->previous_frame, (const AVPicture *)pict,
-                    avctx->pix_fmt, avctx->width, avctx->height);
+    av_frame_unref(s->previous_frame);
+    ret = av_frame_ref(s->previous_frame, pict);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "cannot add reference\n");
+        return ret;
+    }
 
 #if FF_API_CODED_FRAME
 FF_DISABLE_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS