diff --git a/libavcodec/h264_refs.c b/libavcodec/h264_refs.c
index 42316b4a2d..27ca8f8163 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264_refs.c
+++ b/libavcodec/h264_refs.c
@@ -582,7 +582,7 @@ int ff_h264_execute_ref_pic_marking(H264Context *h, MMCO *mmco, int mmco_count)
                 if (mmco[i].opcode != MMCO_SHORT2LONG ||
                     !h->long_ref[mmco[i].long_arg]    ||
                     h->long_ref[mmco[i].long_arg]->frame_num != frame_num) {
-                    av_log(h->avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "mmco: unref short failure\n");
+                    av_log(h->avctx, h->short_ref_count ? AV_LOG_ERROR : AV_LOG_DEBUG, "mmco: unref short failure\n");
                     err = AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
                 }
                 continue;