diff --git a/libavutil/frame.c b/libavutil/frame.c
index e7679bf34d..fd4b53f9ff 100644
--- a/libavutil/frame.c
+++ b/libavutil/frame.c
@@ -889,36 +889,55 @@ AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_new(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
     return ret;
 }
 
-int av_frame_side_data_from_sd(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
-                               const AVFrameSideData *src,
-                               unsigned int flags)
+AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_from_buf(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
+                                             enum AVFrameSideDataType type,
+                                             const AVBufferRef *buf,
+                                             unsigned int flags)
 {
-    if (!sd || !src || !nb_sd || (*nb_sd && !*sd))
-        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
+    if (!sd || !buf || !nb_sd || (*nb_sd && !*sd))
+        return NULL;
+
+    if (flags & AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_SET_FLAG_NO_DUPLICATES)
+        remove_side_data(sd, nb_sd, type);
 
     {
-        AVBufferRef           *buf    = av_buffer_ref(src->buf);
-        AVFrameSideData       *sd_dst = NULL;
+        AVBufferRef     *new_buf = av_buffer_ref(buf);
+        AVFrameSideData *sd_dst  = NULL;
 
         if (flags & AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_SET_FLAG_NO_DUPLICATES)
-            remove_side_data(sd, nb_sd, src->type);
+            remove_side_data(sd, nb_sd, type);
 
-        sd_dst = add_side_data_to_set_from_buf(sd, nb_sd, src->type, buf);
+        sd_dst = add_side_data_to_set_from_buf(sd, nb_sd, type, new_buf);
         if (!sd_dst) {
-            av_buffer_unref(&buf);
-            return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
+            av_buffer_unref(&new_buf);
+            return NULL;
         }
 
-        {
-            int ret = av_dict_copy(&sd_dst->metadata, src->metadata, 0);
-            if (ret < 0) {
-                remove_side_data_by_entry(sd, nb_sd, sd_dst);
-                return ret;
-            }
-        }
+        return sd_dst;
+    }
+}
 
-        return 0;
+int av_frame_side_data_from_sd(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
+                               const AVFrameSideData *src,
+                               unsigned int flags)
+{
+    AVFrameSideData *sd_dst = NULL;
+    int ret = AVERROR_BUG;
+    if (!src)
+        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
+
+    sd_dst =
+        av_frame_side_data_from_buf(sd, nb_sd, src->type, src->buf, flags);
+    if (!sd_dst)
+        return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
+
+    ret = av_dict_copy(&sd_dst->metadata, src->metadata, 0);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        remove_side_data_by_entry(sd, nb_sd, sd_dst);
+        return ret;
     }
+
+    return 0;
 }
 
 const AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_get(const AVFrameSideData **sd,
diff --git a/libavutil/frame.h b/libavutil/frame.h
index 751f7a67d6..01311e68eb 100644
--- a/libavutil/frame.h
+++ b/libavutil/frame.h
@@ -1081,6 +1081,26 @@ AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_new(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
                                         enum AVFrameSideDataType type,
                                         size_t size, unsigned int flags);
 
+/**
+ * Add a new side data entry to a set from an existing AVBufferRef.
+ *
+ * @param sd    pointer to array of side data to which to add another entry.
+ * @param nb_sd pointer to an integer containing the number of entries in
+ *              the array.
+ * @param type  type of the added side data
+ * @param buf   AVBufferRef for which a new reference will be made
+ * @param flags Some combination of AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_SET_FLAG_* flags, or 0.
+ *
+ * @return newly added side data on success, NULL on error. In case of
+ *         AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_SET_FLAG_NO_DUPLICATES being set, entries
+ *         of matching AVFrameSideDataType will be removed before the
+ *         addition is attempted.
+ */
+AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_from_buf(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
+                                             enum AVFrameSideDataType type,
+                                             const AVBufferRef *buf,
+                                             unsigned int flags);
+
 /**
  * Add a new side data entry to a set based on existing side data, taking
  * a reference towards the contained AVBufferRef.
