diff --git a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_main.h b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_main.h
index cdccd4dfed..8c8ce9b3a7 100644
--- a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_main.h
+++ b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_main.h
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ public:
 
 	const in_addr compute_broadcast_addr(const in_addr &host_addr, const in_addr &netmask_addr);
 
-	struct sockaddr_in 	*get_client_source_address() { return &_src_addr; }
+	struct sockaddr_in 	&get_client_source_address() { return _src_addr; }
 
 	void			set_client_source_initialized() { _src_addr_initialized = true; }
 
diff --git a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_receiver.cpp b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_receiver.cpp
index 957e0b0a71..cbf5842119 100644
--- a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_receiver.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_receiver.cpp
@@ -2546,7 +2546,7 @@ MavlinkReceiver::receive_thread(void *arg)
 				// could be TCP or other protocol
 			}
 
-			struct sockaddr_in *srcaddr_last = _mavlink->get_client_source_address();
+			struct sockaddr_in &srcaddr_last = _mavlink->get_client_source_address();
 
 			int localhost = (127 << 24) + 1;
 
@@ -2558,9 +2558,9 @@ MavlinkReceiver::receive_thread(void *arg)
 				hrt_abstime stime = _mavlink->get_start_time();
 
 				if ((stime != 0 && (hrt_elapsed_time(&stime) > 3 * 1000 * 1000))
-				    || (srcaddr_last->sin_addr.s_addr == htonl(localhost))) {
-					srcaddr_last->sin_addr.s_addr = srcaddr.sin_addr.s_addr;
-					srcaddr_last->sin_port = srcaddr.sin_port;
+				    || (srcaddr_last.sin_addr.s_addr == htonl(localhost))) {
+					srcaddr_last.sin_addr.s_addr = srcaddr.sin_addr.s_addr;
+					srcaddr_last.sin_port = srcaddr.sin_port;
 					_mavlink->set_client_source_initialized();
 					PX4_INFO("partner IP: %s", inet_ntoa(srcaddr.sin_addr));
 				}