diff --git a/src/android/camera_device.h b/src/android/camera_device.h
index 555b33e7..14e26b4d 100644
--- a/src/android/camera_device.h
+++ b/src/android/camera_device.h
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public:

 	unsigned int id() const { return id_; }
 	camera3_device_t *camera3Device() { return &camera3Device_; }
-	std::shared_ptr<libcamera::Camera> camera() const { return camera_; }
+	const std::shared_ptr<libcamera::Camera> &camera() const { return camera_; }
 	libcamera::CameraConfiguration *cameraConfiguration() const
 	{
 		return config_.get();