diff --git a/libavutil/frame.c b/libavutil/frame.c
index 930f01dc19..f77e1986bf 100644
--- a/libavutil/frame.c
+++ b/libavutil/frame.c
@@ -821,6 +821,25 @@ AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_new(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
     return ret;
 }
 
+AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_add(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
+                                        enum AVFrameSideDataType type,
+                                        AVBufferRef **pbuf, unsigned int flags)
+{
+    const AVSideDataDescriptor *desc = av_frame_side_data_desc(type);
+    AVFrameSideData *sd_dst  = NULL;
+    AVBufferRef *buf = *pbuf;
+
+    if (flags & AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_FLAG_UNIQUE)
+        remove_side_data(sd, nb_sd, type);
+
+    sd_dst = add_side_data_from_buf(sd, nb_sd, type, buf);
+    if (!sd_dst)
+        return NULL;
+
+    *pbuf = NULL;
+    return sd_dst;
+}
+
 int av_frame_side_data_clone(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
                              const AVFrameSideData *src, unsigned int flags)
 {
diff --git a/libavutil/frame.h b/libavutil/frame.h
index 3b6d746a16..8d16924432 100644
--- a/libavutil/frame.h
+++ b/libavutil/frame.h
@@ -1062,6 +1062,30 @@ 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 an array from an existing AVBufferRef.
+ *
+ * @param sd    pointer to array of side data to which to add another entry,
+ *              or to NULL in order to start a new array.
+ * @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   Pointer to AVBufferRef to add to the array. On success,
+ *              the function takes ownership of the AVBufferRef and *buf is
+ *              set to NULL, unless AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_FLAG_NEW_REF is set
+ *              in which case the ownership will remain with the caller.
+ * @param flags Some combination of AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_FLAG_* flags, or 0.
+ *
+ * @return newly added side data on success, NULL on error.
+ * @note In case of AV_FRAME_SIDE_DATA_FLAG_UNIQUE being set, entries of
+ *       matching AVFrameSideDataType will be removed before the addition
+ *       is attempted.
+ *
+ */
+AVFrameSideData *av_frame_side_data_add(AVFrameSideData ***sd, int *nb_sd,
+                                        enum AVFrameSideDataType type,
+                                        AVBufferRef **buf, unsigned int flags);
+
 /**
  * Add a new side data entry to an array based on existing side data, taking
  * a reference towards the contained AVBufferRef.