diff --git a/libavcodec/Makefile b/libavcodec/Makefile
index bf3b0a93f9..7541f38535 100644
--- a/libavcodec/Makefile
+++ b/libavcodec/Makefile
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ OBJS = ac3_parser.o                                                     \
        profiles.o                                                       \
        qsv_api.o                                                        \
        raw.o                                                            \
+       refstruct.o                                                      \
        utils.o                                                          \
        version.o                                                        \
        vlc.o                                                            \
diff --git a/libavcodec/refstruct.c b/libavcodec/refstruct.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..917cf6b7ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libavcodec/refstruct.c
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of FFmpeg.
+ *
+ * FFmpeg is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * FFmpeg is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with FFmpeg; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
+ */
+
+#include <stdatomic.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "internal.h"
+#include "refstruct.h"
+
+#include "libavutil/macros.h"
+#include "libavutil/mem.h"
+
+typedef struct RefCount {
+    /**
+     * An uintptr_t is big enough to hold the address of every reference,
+     * so no overflow can happen when incrementing the refcount as long as
+     * the user does not throw away references.
+     */
+    atomic_uintptr_t  refcount;
+    FFRefStructOpaque opaque;
+    void (*free_cb)(FFRefStructOpaque opaque, void *obj);
+} RefCount;
+
+#if __STDC_VERSION__ >= 201112L
+#define REFCOUNT_OFFSET FFALIGN(sizeof(RefCount), FFMAX3(STRIDE_ALIGN, 16, _Alignof(max_align_t)))
+#else
+#define REFCOUNT_OFFSET FFALIGN(sizeof(RefCount), FFMAX(STRIDE_ALIGN, 16))
+#endif
+
+static RefCount *get_refcount(void *obj)
+{
+    return (RefCount*)((char*)obj - REFCOUNT_OFFSET);
+}
+
+static void *get_userdata(void *buf)
+{
+    return (char*)buf + REFCOUNT_OFFSET;
+}
+
+static void refcount_init(RefCount *ref, FFRefStructOpaque opaque,
+                          void (*free_cb)(FFRefStructOpaque opaque, void *obj))
+{
+    atomic_init(&ref->refcount, 1);
+    ref->opaque  = opaque;
+    ref->free_cb = free_cb;
+}
+
+void *ff_refstruct_alloc_ext_c(size_t size, unsigned flags, FFRefStructOpaque opaque,
+                               void (*free_cb)(FFRefStructOpaque opaque, void *obj))
+{
+    void *buf, *obj;
+
+    if (size > SIZE_MAX - REFCOUNT_OFFSET)
+        return NULL;
+    buf = av_malloc(size + REFCOUNT_OFFSET);
+    if (!buf)
+        return NULL;
+    refcount_init(buf, opaque, free_cb);
+    obj = get_userdata(buf);
+    if (!(flags & FF_REFSTRUCT_FLAG_NO_ZEROING))
+        memset(obj, 0, size);
+
+    return obj;
+}
+
+void *ff_refstruct_allocz(size_t size)
+{
+    return ff_refstruct_alloc_ext(size, 0, NULL, NULL);
+}
+
+void ff_refstruct_unref(void *objp)
+{
+    void *obj;
+    RefCount *ref;
+
+    memcpy(&obj, objp, sizeof(obj));
+    if (!obj)
+        return;
+    memcpy(objp, &(void *){ NULL }, sizeof(obj));
+
+    ref = get_refcount(obj);
+    if (atomic_fetch_sub_explicit(&ref->refcount, 1, memory_order_acq_rel) == 1) {
+        if (ref->free_cb)
+            ref->free_cb(ref->opaque, obj);
+        av_free(ref);
+    }
+
+    return;
+}
+
+void *ff_refstruct_ref(void *obj)
+{
+    RefCount *ref = get_refcount(obj);
+
+    atomic_fetch_add_explicit(&ref->refcount, 1, memory_order_relaxed);
+
+    return obj;
+}
+
+const void *ff_refstruct_ref_c(const void *obj)
+{
+    /* Casting const away here is fine, as it is only supposed
+     * to apply to the user's data and not our bookkeeping data. */
+    RefCount *ref = get_refcount((void*)obj);
+
+    atomic_fetch_add_explicit(&ref->refcount, 1, memory_order_relaxed);
+
+    return obj;
+}
+
+void ff_refstruct_replace(void *dstp, const void *src)
+{
+    const void *dst;
+    memcpy(&dst, dstp, sizeof(dst));
+
+    if (src == dst)
+        return;
+    ff_refstruct_unref(dstp);
+    if (src) {
+        dst = ff_refstruct_ref_c(src);
+        memcpy(dstp, &dst, sizeof(dst));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/libavcodec/refstruct.h b/libavcodec/refstruct.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0086717c17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libavcodec/refstruct.h
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of FFmpeg.
+ *
+ * FFmpeg is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * FFmpeg is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with FFmpeg; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
+ */
+
+#ifndef AVCODEC_REFSTRUCT_H
+#define AVCODEC_REFSTRUCT_H
+
+#include <stddef.h>
+
+/**
+ * RefStruct is an API for creating reference-counted objects
+ * with minimal overhead. The API is designed for objects,
+ * not buffers like the AVBuffer API. The main differences
+ * to the AVBuffer API are as follows:
+ *
+ * - It uses void* instead of uint8_t* as its base type due to
+ *   its focus on objects.
+ * - There are no equivalents of AVBuffer and AVBufferRef.
+ *   E.g. there is no way to get the usable size of the object:
+ *   The user is supposed to know what is at the other end of
+ *   the pointer. It also avoids one level of indirection.
+ * - Custom allocators are not supported. This allows to simplify
+ *   the implementation and reduce the amount of allocations.
+ * - It also has the advantage that the user's free callback need
+ *   only free the resources owned by the object, but not the
+ *   object itself.
+ * - Because referencing (and replacing) an object managed by the
+ *   RefStruct API does not involve allocations, they can not fail
+ *   and therefore need not be checked.
+ *
+ * @note Referencing and unreferencing the buffers is thread-safe and thus
+ * may be done from multiple threads simultaneously without any need for
+ * additional locking.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * This union is used for all opaque parameters in this API to spare the user
+ * to cast const away in case the opaque to use is const-qualified.
+ *
+ * The functions provided by this API with an FFRefStructOpaque come in pairs
+ * named foo_c and foo. The foo function accepts void* as opaque and is just
+ * a wrapper around the foo_c function; "_c" means "(potentially) const".
+ */
+typedef union {
+    void *nc;
+    const void *c;
+} FFRefStructOpaque;
+
+/**
+ * If this flag is set in ff_refstruct_alloc_ext_c(), the object will not
+ * be initially zeroed.
+ */
+#define FF_REFSTRUCT_FLAG_NO_ZEROING (1 << 0)
+
+/**
+ * Allocate a refcounted object of usable size `size` managed via
+ * the RefStruct API.
+ *
+ * By default (in the absence of flags to the contrary),
+ * the returned object is initially zeroed.
+ *
+ * @param size    Desired usable size of the returned object.
+ * @param flags   A bitwise combination of FF_REFSTRUCT_FLAG_* flags.
+ * @param opaque  A pointer that will be passed to the free_cb callback.
+ * @param free_cb A callback for freeing this object's content
+ *                when its reference count reaches zero;
+ *                it must not free the object itself.
+ * @return A pointer to an object of the desired size or NULL on failure.
+ */
+void *ff_refstruct_alloc_ext_c(size_t size, unsigned flags, FFRefStructOpaque opaque,
+                               void (*free_cb)(FFRefStructOpaque opaque, void *obj));
+
+/**
+ * A wrapper around ff_refstruct_alloc_ext_c() for the common case
+ * of a non-const qualified opaque.
+ *
+ * @see ff_refstruct_alloc_ext_c()
+ */
+static inline
+void *ff_refstruct_alloc_ext(size_t size, unsigned flags, void *opaque,
+                             void (*free_cb)(FFRefStructOpaque opaque, void *obj))
+{
+    return ff_refstruct_alloc_ext_c(size, flags, (FFRefStructOpaque){.nc = opaque},
+                                    free_cb);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Equivalent to ff_refstruct_alloc_ext(size, 0, NULL, NULL)
+ */
+void *ff_refstruct_allocz(size_t size);
+
+/**
+ * Decrement the reference count of the underlying object and automatically
+ * free the object if there are no more references to it.
+ *
+ * `*objp == NULL` is legal and a no-op.
+ *
+ * @param objp Pointer to a pointer that is either NULL or points to an object
+ *             managed via this API. `*objp` is set to NULL on return.
+ */
+void ff_refstruct_unref(void *objp);
+
+/**
+ * Create a new reference to an object managed via this API,
+ * i.e. increment the reference count of the underlying object
+ * and return obj.
+ * @return a pointer equal to obj.
+ */
+void *ff_refstruct_ref(void *obj);
+
+/**
+ * Analog of ff_refstruct_ref(), but for constant objects.
+ * @see ff_refstruct_ref()
+ */
+const void *ff_refstruct_ref_c(const void *obj);
+
+/**
+ * Ensure `*dstp` refers to the same object as src.
+ *
+ * If `*dstp` is already equal to src, do nothing. Otherwise unreference `*dstp`
+ * and replace it with a new reference to src in case `src != NULL` (this
+ * involves incrementing the reference count of src's underlying object) or
+ * with NULL otherwise.
+ *
+ * @param dstp Pointer to a pointer that is either NULL or points to an object
+ *             managed via this API.
+ * @param src  A pointer to an object managed via this API or NULL.
+ */
+void ff_refstruct_replace(void *dstp, const void *src);
+
+#endif /* AVCODEC_REFSTRUCT_H */
