diff --git a/include/libcamera/internal/yaml_parser.h b/include/libcamera/internal/yaml_parser.h
index b6979d73..3ac27e06 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/internal/yaml_parser.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/internal/yaml_parser.h
@@ -179,10 +179,10 @@ public:
 #endif
 	std::optional<T> get() const;
 
-	template<typename T>
-	T get(const T &defaultValue) const
+	template<typename T, typename U>
+	T get(U &&defaultValue) const
 	{
-		return get<T>().value_or(defaultValue);
+		return get<T>().value_or(std::forward<U>(defaultValue));
 	}
 
 #ifndef __DOXYGEN__
diff --git a/src/libcamera/yaml_parser.cpp b/src/libcamera/yaml_parser.cpp
index aac9a2bd..b68a44c1 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/yaml_parser.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/yaml_parser.cpp
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ std::size_t YamlObject::size() const
  */
 
 /**
- * \fn template<typename T> YamlObject::get<T>(const T &defaultValue) const
+ * \fn template<typename T, typename U> YamlObject::get<T>(U &&defaultValue) const
  * \brief Parse the YamlObject as a \a T value
  * \param[in] defaultValue The default value when failing to parse
  *