diff --git a/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp b/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp
index 3220b458..584a29d0 100644
--- a/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp
+++ b/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp
@@ -435,11 +435,13 @@ void Exif::setOrientation(int orientation)
  * Failing to do so, might result in no thumbnail data being set even after a
  * call to Exif::setThumbnail().
  */
-void Exif::setThumbnail(Span<const unsigned char> thumbnail,
-			Compression compression)
+void Exif::setThumbnail(Compression compression)
 {
-	data_->data = const_cast<unsigned char *>(thumbnail.data());
-	data_->size = thumbnail.size();
+	if (thumbnail_raw_.empty())
+		return;
+
+	data_->data = const_cast<unsigned char *>(thumbnail_raw_.data());
+	data_->size = thumbnail_raw_.size();
 
 	setShort(EXIF_IFD_0, EXIF_TAG_COMPRESSION, compression);
 }
diff --git a/src/android/jpeg/exif.h b/src/android/jpeg/exif.h
index 2ff8fb78..4784496b 100644
--- a/src/android/jpeg/exif.h
+++ b/src/android/jpeg/exif.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <chrono>
 #include <string>
 #include <time.h>
+#include <vector>
 
 #include <libexif/exif-data.h>
 
@@ -60,8 +61,7 @@ public:
 
 	void setOrientation(int orientation);
 	void setSize(const libcamera::Size &size);
-	void setThumbnail(libcamera::Span<const unsigned char> thumbnail,
-			  Compression compression);
+	void setThumbnail(Compression compression);
 	void setTimestamp(time_t timestamp, std::chrono::milliseconds msec);
 
 	void setGPSDateTimestamp(time_t timestamp);
@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ public:
 	libcamera::Span<const uint8_t> data() const { return { exifData_, size_ }; }
 	[[nodiscard]] int generate();
 
+	std::vector<unsigned char>& getThumbnailRaw() {
+		return thumbnail_raw_;
+	}
+
 private:
 	ExifEntry *createEntry(ExifIfd ifd, ExifTag tag);
 	ExifEntry *createEntry(ExifIfd ifd, ExifTag tag, ExifFormat format,
@@ -106,4 +110,6 @@ private:
 
 	unsigned char *exifData_;
 	unsigned int size_;
+
+	std::vector<unsigned char> thumbnail_raw_;
 };
diff --git a/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp b/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp
index d72ebc3c..506b00b9 100644
--- a/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp
@@ -163,10 +163,8 @@ void PostProcessorJpeg::process(Camera3RequestDescriptor::StreamBuffer *streamBu
 		resultMetadata->addEntry(ANDROID_JPEG_THUMBNAIL_QUALITY, quality);
 
 		if (thumbnailSize != Size(0, 0)) {
-			std::vector<unsigned char> thumbnail;
-			generateThumbnail(source, thumbnailSize, quality, &thumbnail);
-			if (!thumbnail.empty())
-				exif.setThumbnail(thumbnail, Exif::Compression::JPEG);
+			generateThumbnail(source, thumbnailSize, quality, &exif.getThumbnailRaw());
+			exif.setThumbnail(Exif::Compression::JPEG);
 		}
 
 		resultMetadata->addEntry(ANDROID_JPEG_THUMBNAIL_SIZE, data, 2);