diff --git a/Libraries/Image/RCTImageLoader.m b/Libraries/Image/RCTImageLoader.m
index 0b49fe23b06e60..4f70fd0b9b4232 100644
--- a/Libraries/Image/RCTImageLoader.m
+++ b/Libraries/Image/RCTImageLoader.m
@@ -381,9 +381,10 @@ - (RCTImageLoaderCancellationBlock)_loadImageOrDataWithURLRequest:(NSURLRequest
   });
 
   return ^{
-    if (cancelLoad && !cancelled) {
-      cancelLoad();
-      cancelLoad = nil;
+    dispatch_block_t cancelLoadLocal = cancelLoad;
+    cancelLoad = nil;
+    if (cancelLoadLocal && !cancelled) {
+      cancelLoadLocal();
     }
     OSAtomicOr32Barrier(1, &cancelled);
   };
@@ -515,8 +516,9 @@ - (RCTImageLoaderCancellationBlock)loadImageWithURLRequest:(NSURLRequest *)image
   __block volatile uint32_t cancelled = 0;
   __block dispatch_block_t cancelLoad = nil;
   dispatch_block_t cancellationBlock = ^{
-    if (cancelLoad && !cancelled) {
-      cancelLoad();
+    dispatch_block_t cancelLoadLocal = cancelLoad;
+    if (cancelLoadLocal && !cancelled) {
+      cancelLoadLocal();
     }
     OSAtomicOr32Barrier(1, &cancelled);
   };