diff --git a/libavutil/buffer.c b/libavutil/buffer.c
index b31f0343b3..bb112c238e 100644
--- a/libavutil/buffer.c
+++ b/libavutil/buffer.c
@@ -159,8 +159,8 @@ int av_buffer_make_writable(AVBufferRef **pbuf)
         return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
 
     memcpy(newbuf->data, buf->data, buf->size);
-    av_buffer_unref(pbuf);
-    *pbuf = newbuf;
+
+    buffer_replace(pbuf, &newbuf);
 
     return 0;
 }