diff --git a/libavcodec/h264_refs.c b/libavcodec/h264_refs.c
index 6061844cef..2c9c71680a 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264_refs.c
+++ b/libavcodec/h264_refs.c
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ int ff_h264_execute_ref_pic_marking(H264Context *h, MMCO *mmco, int mmco_count){
             if(!pic){
                 if(mmco[i].opcode != MMCO_SHORT2LONG || !h->long_ref[mmco[i].long_arg]
                    || h->long_ref[mmco[i].long_arg]->frame_num != frame_num) {
-                    av_log(h->s.avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "mmco: unref short failure\n");
+                    av_log(h->s.avctx, h->short_ref_count ? AV_LOG_ERROR : AV_LOG_DEBUG, "mmco: unref short failure\n");
                     err = AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
                 }
                 continue;