diff --git a/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp b/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp
index 3220b458..6b1d0f1f 100644
--- a/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp
+++ b/src/android/jpeg/exif.cpp
@@ -430,16 +430,13 @@ void Exif::setOrientation(int orientation)
 	setShort(EXIF_IFD_0, EXIF_TAG_ORIENTATION, value);
 }
 
-/*
- * The thumbnail data should remain valid until the Exif object is destroyed.
- * 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,
+void Exif::setThumbnail(std::vector<unsigned char> &&thumbnail,
 			Compression compression)
 {
-	data_->data = const_cast<unsigned char *>(thumbnail.data());
-	data_->size = thumbnail.size();
+	thumbnailData_ = std::move(thumbnail);
+
+	data_->data = thumbnailData_.data();
+	data_->size = thumbnailData_.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..e68716f3 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>
 
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ public:
 
 	void setOrientation(int orientation);
 	void setSize(const libcamera::Size &size);
-	void setThumbnail(libcamera::Span<const unsigned char> thumbnail,
+	void setThumbnail(std::vector<unsigned char> &&thumbnail,
 			  Compression compression);
 	void setTimestamp(time_t timestamp, std::chrono::milliseconds msec);
 
@@ -106,4 +107,6 @@ private:
 
 	unsigned char *exifData_;
 	unsigned int size_;
+
+	std::vector<unsigned char> thumbnailData_;
 };
diff --git a/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp b/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp
index d72ebc3c..0cf56716 100644
--- a/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/android/jpeg/post_processor_jpeg.cpp
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ void PostProcessorJpeg::process(Camera3RequestDescriptor::StreamBuffer *streamBu
 			std::vector<unsigned char> thumbnail;
 			generateThumbnail(source, thumbnailSize, quality, &thumbnail);
 			if (!thumbnail.empty())
-				exif.setThumbnail(thumbnail, Exif::Compression::JPEG);
+				exif.setThumbnail(std::move(thumbnail), Exif::Compression::JPEG);
 		}
 
 		resultMetadata->addEntry(ANDROID_JPEG_THUMBNAIL_SIZE, data, 2);