diff --git a/src/gui/image/qgifhandler.cpp b/src/gui/image/qgifhandler.cpp
index 9c748c0373..4197d7e959 100644
--- a/src/gui/image/qgifhandler.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/image/qgifhandler.cpp
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ int QGIFFormat::decode(QImage *image, const uchar *buffer, int length,
                         backingstore = QImage(qMax(backingstore.width(), w),
                                               qMax(backingstore.height(), h),
                                               QImage::Format_RGB32);
-                        memset(bits, 0, image->byteCount());
+                        memset(backingstore.bits(), 0, backingstore.byteCount());
                     }
                     const int dest_bpl = backingstore.bytesPerLine();
                     unsigned char *dest_data = backingstore.bits();