diff --git a/libavcodec/fic.c b/libavcodec/fic.c
index bf7b2ead2b..2d1a2951ed 100644
--- a/libavcodec/fic.c
+++ b/libavcodec/fic.c
@@ -420,14 +420,14 @@ static int fic_decode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVFrame *rframe,
     if (ret < 0)
         return ret;
 
+    /* Draw cursor if needed. */
+    if (!skip_cursor) {
     /* Make sure we use a user-supplied buffer. */
     if ((ret = ff_reget_buffer(avctx, ctx->final_frame, 0)) < 0) {
         av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Could not make frame writable.\n");
         return ret;
     }
 
-    /* Draw cursor. */
-    if (!skip_cursor) {
         fic_draw_cursor(avctx, src + CURSOR_OFFSET, cur_x, cur_y);
     }