diff --git a/libavcodec/h264_slice.c b/libavcodec/h264_slice.c
index 8d79740a7f..1b91088f52 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264_slice.c
+++ b/libavcodec/h264_slice.c
@@ -1404,6 +1404,9 @@ static int h264_field_start(H264Context *h, const H264SliceContext *sl,
                 h->short_ref[0]->f->width == prev->f->width &&
                 h->short_ref[0]->f->height == prev->f->height &&
                 h->short_ref[0]->f->format == prev->f->format) {
+                ff_thread_await_progress(&prev->tf, INT_MAX, 0);
+                if (prev->field_picture)
+                    ff_thread_await_progress(&prev->tf, INT_MAX, 1);
                 av_image_copy(h->short_ref[0]->f->data,
                               h->short_ref[0]->f->linesize,
                               (const uint8_t **)prev->f->data,