diff --git a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js
index 81d91e9f88..f225c49970 100644
--- a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js
+++ b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ jQuery( document ).ready( function( $ ) {
 				data: {
 					action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
 					_wpnonce: _wpPluploadSettings.defaults.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-					_wp_temp_image_ref: file.id,
+					_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id,
 					_wp_upload_failed_cleanup: true,
 				}
 			});
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ jQuery( document ).ready( function( $ ) {
 			data: {
 				action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
 				_wpnonce: wpUploaderInit.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-				_wp_temp_image_ref: file.id,
+				_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id,
 				_legasy_support: 'true',
 			}
 		}).done( function( response ) {
@@ -599,9 +599,9 @@ jQuery( document ).ready( function( $ ) {
 		 */
 		uploader.bind( 'BeforeUpload', function( up, file ) {
 			if ( file.type && file.type.indexOf( 'image/' ) === 0 ) {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_image_ref = file.id;
+				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = file.id;
 			} else {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_image_ref = '';
+				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = '';
 			}
 		} );
 	};
diff --git a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js
index 7677cc66ea..67e44226e6 100644
--- a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js
+++ b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ window.wp = window.wp || {};
 					data: {
 						action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
 						_wpnonce: _wpPluploadSettings.defaults.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-						_wp_temp_image_ref: file.id,
+						_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id,
 						_wp_upload_failed_cleanup: true,
 					}
 				});
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ window.wp = window.wp || {};
 				data: {
 					action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
 					_wpnonce: _wpPluploadSettings.defaults.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-					_wp_temp_image_ref: file.id, // Used to find the new attachment_id.
+					_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id, // Used to find the new attachment_id.
 				}
 			}).done( function( response ) {
 				if ( response.success ) {
@@ -324,9 +324,9 @@ window.wp = window.wp || {};
 		 */
 		this.uploader.bind( 'BeforeUpload', function( up, file ) {
 			if ( file.type && file.type.indexOf( 'image/' ) === 0 ) {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_image_ref = file.id;
+				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = file.id;
 			} else {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_image_ref = '';
+				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = '';
 			}
 		} );
 
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
index 759f011b09..8d10ff731d 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
@@ -2422,21 +2422,18 @@ function wp_ajax_media_create_image_subsizes() {
 		wp_send_json_error( array( 'message' => __( 'Sorry, you are not allowed to upload files.' ) ) );
 	}
 
-	// Using Plupload `file.id` as ref.
-	if ( ! empty( $_POST['_wp_temp_image_ref'] ) ) {
-		$image_ref = preg_replace( '/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/', '', $_POST['_wp_temp_image_ref'] );
+	if ( ! empty( $_POST['_wp_temp_upload_ref'] ) ) {
+		// Uploading of images usually fails while creating the sub-sizes, either because of a timeout or out of memory.
+		// At this point the file has been uploaded and an attachment post created, but because of the PHP fatal error
+		// the cliend doesn't know the attachment ID yet.
+		// To be able to find the new attachment_id in these cases we temporarily store an upload reference sent by the client
+		// in the original upload request. It is used to save a transient with the attachment_id as value.
+		// That reference currently is Plupload's `file.id` but can be any sufficiently random alpha-numeric string.
+		$attachment_id = _wp_get_upload_ref_attachment_id( $_POST['_wp_temp_upload_ref'] );
 	} else {
 		wp_send_json_error( array( 'message' => __( 'Invalid file reference.' ) ) );
 	}
 
-	// Uploading of images usually fails while creating the sub-sizes, either because of a timeout or out of memory.
-	// At this point the file has been uploaded and an attachment post created, but because of the PHP fatal error
-	// the cliend doesn't know the attachment ID yet.
-	// To be able to find the new attachment_id in these cases we temporarily store an upload reference sent by the client
-	// in the original upload request. It is used to save a transient with the attachment_id as value.
-	// That reference currently is Plupload's `file.id` but can be any sufficiently random alpha-numeric string.
-	$attachment_id = get_transient( '_wp_temp_image_ref:' . $image_ref );
-
 	if ( empty( $attachment_id ) ) {
 		wp_send_json_error( array( 'message' => __( 'Upload failed. Please reload and try again.' ) ) );
 	}
@@ -2481,7 +2478,7 @@ function wp_ajax_media_create_image_subsizes() {
 	}
 
 	// At this point the image has been uploaded successfully.
-	delete_transient( '_wp_temp_image_ref:' . $image_ref );
+	_wp_clear_upload_ref( $_POST['_wp_temp_upload_ref'] );
 
 	wp_send_json_success( $response );
 }
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/file.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/file.php
index 4f04c62fbe..9d5244202e 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/file.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/file.php
@@ -978,6 +978,63 @@ function wp_handle_sideload( &$file, $overrides = false, $time = null ) {
 	return _wp_handle_upload( $file, $overrides, $time, $action );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Temporarily stores the client upload reference in a transient.
+ *
+ * @since 5.3.0
+ * @access private
+ *
+ * @param string $upload_ref    The upload reference sent by the client.
+ * @param int    $attachment_id Attachment post ID.
+ * @return bool Whether the transient was set.
+ */
+function _wp_set_upload_ref( $upload_ref, $attachment_id ) {
+	$upload_ref = preg_replace( '/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/', '', $upload_ref );
+
+	if ( ! empty( $upload_ref ) ) {
+		return set_transient( '_wp_temp_image_ref:' . $upload_ref, $attachment_id, HOUR_IN_SECONDS );
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get attachment post ID from an upload reference.
+ *
+ * @since 5.3.0
+ * @access private
+ *
+ * @param string $upload_ref    The upload reference sent by the client.
+ * @return int The attachemtn post ID. Zero if the upload reference has expired or doesn't exist.
+ */
+function _wp_get_upload_ref_attachment_id( $upload_ref ) {
+	$upload_ref = preg_replace( '/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/', '', $upload_ref );
+
+	if ( ! empty( $upload_ref ) ) {
+		return (int) get_transient( '_wp_temp_image_ref:' . $upload_ref );
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Remove the transient that stores a temporary upload reference.
+ *
+ * @since 5.3.0
+ * @access private
+ *
+ * @param string $upload_ref    The upload reference sent by the client.
+ * @return bool Whether the transient was removed.
+ */
+function _wp_clear_upload_ref( $upload_ref ) {
+	$upload_ref = preg_replace( '/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/', '', $upload_ref );
+
+	if ( ! empty( $upload_ref ) ) {
+		return delete_transient( '_wp_temp_image_ref:' . $upload_ref );
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
 
 /**
  * Downloads a URL to a local temporary file using the WordPress HTTP API.
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php
index 2efe0830b5..9cab599662 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php
@@ -308,13 +308,13 @@ function media_handle_upload( $file_id, $post_id, $post_data = array(), $overrid
 	$ext  = pathinfo( $name, PATHINFO_EXTENSION );
 	$name = wp_basename( $name, ".$ext" );
 
-	$url       = $file['url'];
-	$type      = $file['type'];
-	$file      = $file['file'];
-	$title     = sanitize_text_field( $name );
-	$content   = '';
-	$excerpt   = '';
-	$image_ref = false;
+	$url     = $file['url'];
+	$type    = $file['type'];
+	$file    = $file['file'];
+	$title   = sanitize_text_field( $name );
+	$content = '';
+	$excerpt = '';
+	$_ref    = false;
 
 	if ( preg_match( '#^audio#', $type ) ) {
 		$meta = wp_read_audio_metadata( $file );
@@ -376,11 +376,6 @@ function media_handle_upload( $file_id, $post_id, $post_data = array(), $overrid
 
 		// Use image exif/iptc data for title and caption defaults if possible.
 	} elseif ( 0 === strpos( $type, 'image/' ) ) {
-		// Image file reference passed by the uploader.
-		if ( ! empty( $_POST['_wp_temp_image_ref'] ) ) {
-			$image_ref = preg_replace( '/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/', '', $_POST['_wp_temp_image_ref'] );
-		}
-
 		$image_meta = wp_read_image_metadata( $file );
 
 		if ( $image_meta ) {
@@ -415,8 +410,8 @@ function media_handle_upload( $file_id, $post_id, $post_data = array(), $overrid
 
 	if ( ! is_wp_error( $attachment_id ) ) {
 		// If an image, keep the upload reference until all image sub-sizes are created.
-		if ( $image_ref ) {
-			set_transient( '_wp_temp_image_ref:' . $image_ref, $attachment_id, HOUR_IN_SECONDS );
+		if ( ! empty( $_POST['_wp_temp_upload_ref'] ) && wp_attachment_is_image( $attachment_id ) ) {
+			$_ref = _wp_set_upload_ref( $_POST['_wp_temp_upload_ref'], $attachment_id );
 		}
 
 		// The image sub-sizes are created during wp_generate_attachment_metadata().
@@ -425,8 +420,8 @@ function media_handle_upload( $file_id, $post_id, $post_data = array(), $overrid
 
 		// At this point the image is uploaded successfully even if there were specific errors or some sub-sizes were not created.
 		// The transient is not needed any more.
-		if ( $image_ref ) {
-			delete_transient( '_wp_temp_image_ref:' . $image_ref );
+		if ( $_ref ) {
+			_wp_clear_upload_ref( $_POST['_wp_temp_upload_ref'] );
 		}
 	}