diff --git a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js
index f225c49970..fbf1012f9c 100644
--- a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js
+++ b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/handlers.js
@@ -431,9 +431,19 @@ jQuery( document ).ready( function( $ ) {
 	tryAgain = function( up, error ) {
 		var file = error.file;
 		var times;
+		var id;
 
-		if ( ! file || ! file.id ) {
-			wpQueueError( error.message || pluploadL10n.default_error );
+		if ( ! error || ! error.responseHeaders ) {
+			wpQueueError( pluploadL10n.http_error_image );
+			return;
+		}
+
+		id = error.responseHeaders.match( /x-wp-upload-attachment-id:\s*(\d+)/i );
+
+		if ( id && id[1] ) {
+			id = id[1];
+		} else {
+			wpQueueError( pluploadL10n.http_error_image );
 			return;
 		}
 
@@ -449,8 +459,8 @@ jQuery( document ).ready( function( $ ) {
 				dataType: 'json',
 				data: {
 					action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
-					_wpnonce: _wpPluploadSettings.defaults.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-					_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id,
+					_wpnonce: wpUploaderInit.multipart_params._wpnonce,
+					attachment_id: id,
 					_wp_upload_failed_cleanup: true,
 				}
 			});
@@ -478,8 +488,8 @@ jQuery( document ).ready( function( $ ) {
 			data: {
 				action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
 				_wpnonce: wpUploaderInit.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-				_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id,
-				_legasy_support: 'true',
+				attachment_id: id,
+				_legacy_support: 'true',
 			}
 		}).done( function( response ) {
 			var message;
@@ -589,21 +599,6 @@ jQuery( document ).ready( function( $ ) {
 		uploader.bind( 'UploadComplete', function() {
 			uploadComplete();
 		});
-
-		/**
-		 * When uploading images add a file reference used to retrieve the attachment_id
-		 * if the uploading fails due to a server timeout of out of memoty (HTTP 500) error.
-		 *
-		 * @param {plupload.Uploader} up   Uploader instance.
-		 * @param {plupload.File}     file File for uploading.
-		 */
-		uploader.bind( 'BeforeUpload', function( up, file ) {
-			if ( file.type && file.type.indexOf( 'image/' ) === 0 ) {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = file.id;
-			} else {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = '';
-			}
-		} );
 	};
 
 	if ( typeof( wpUploaderInit ) == 'object' ) {
diff --git a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js
index 67e44226e6..b42c98cf9b 100644
--- a/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js
+++ b/src/js/_enqueues/vendor/plupload/wp-plupload.js
@@ -119,9 +119,19 @@ window.wp = window.wp || {};
 		 */
 		tryAgain = function( message, data, file ) {
 			var times;
+			var id;
 
-			if ( ! file || ! file.id ) {
-				error( pluploadL10n.upload_failed, data, file, 'no-retry' );
+			if ( ! data || ! data.responseHeaders ) {
+				error( pluploadL10n.http_error_image, data, file, 'no-retry' );
+				return;
+			}
+
+			id = data.responseHeaders.match( /x-wp-upload-attachment-id:\s*(\d+)/i );
+
+			if ( id && id[1] ) {
+				id = id[1];
+			} else {
+				error( pluploadL10n.http_error_image, data, file, 'no-retry' );
 				return;
 			}
 
@@ -138,7 +148,7 @@ window.wp = window.wp || {};
 					data: {
 						action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
 						_wpnonce: _wpPluploadSettings.defaults.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-						_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id,
+						attachment_id: id,
 						_wp_upload_failed_cleanup: true,
 					}
 				});
@@ -161,7 +171,7 @@ window.wp = window.wp || {};
 				data: {
 					action: 'media-create-image-subsizes',
 					_wpnonce: _wpPluploadSettings.defaults.multipart_params._wpnonce,
-					_wp_temp_upload_ref: file.id, // Used to find the new attachment_id.
+					attachment_id: id,
 				}
 			}).done( function( response ) {
 				if ( response.success ) {
@@ -315,21 +325,6 @@ window.wp = window.wp || {};
 			$('#' + this.uploader.id + '_html5_container').hide();
 		}
 
-		/**
-		 * When uploading images add a reference used to retrieve the attachment_id.
-		 * Used if the uploading fails due to a server timeout of out of memoty error (HTTP 500).
-		 *
-		 * @param {plupload.Uploader} up   Uploader instance.
-		 * @param {plupload.File}     file File for uploading.
-		 */
-		this.uploader.bind( 'BeforeUpload', function( up, file ) {
-			if ( file.type && file.type.indexOf( 'image/' ) === 0 ) {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = file.id;
-			} else {
-				up.settings.multipart_params._wp_temp_upload_ref = '';
-			}
-		} );
-
 		/**
 		 * After files were filtered and added to the queue, create a model for each.
 		 *
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
index 17f0243897..773be72833 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
@@ -2422,39 +2422,19 @@ function wp_ajax_media_create_image_subsizes() {
 		wp_send_json_error( array( 'message' => __( 'Sorry, you are not allowed to upload files.' ) ) );
 	}
 
-	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.' ) ) );
-	}
-
-	if ( empty( $attachment_id ) ) {
+	if ( empty( $_POST['attachment_id'] ) ) {
 		wp_send_json_error( array( 'message' => __( 'Upload failed. Please reload and try again.' ) ) );
 	}
 
+	$attachment_id = (int) $_POST['attachment_id'];
+
 	if ( ! empty( $_POST['_wp_upload_failed_cleanup'] ) ) {
 		// Upload failed. Cleanup.
-		if ( wp_attachment_is_image( $attachment_id ) ) {
+		if ( wp_attachment_is_image( $attachment_id ) && current_user_can( 'delete_post', $attachment_id ) ) {
 			$attachment = get_post( $attachment_id );
 
-			// Posted at most 10 min ago.
+			// Created at most 10 min ago.
 			if ( $attachment && ( time() - strtotime( $attachment->post_date_gmt ) < 600 ) ) {
-				/**
-				 * Runs when an image upload fails during the post-processing phase,
-				 * and the newly created attachment post is about to be deleted.
-				 *
-				 * @since 5.3.0
-				 *
-				 * @param int $attachment_id The attachment post ID.
-				 */
-				do_action( 'wp_upload_failed_cleanup', $attachment_id );
-
 				wp_delete_attachment( $attachment_id, true );
 				wp_send_json_success();
 			}
@@ -2465,7 +2445,7 @@ function wp_ajax_media_create_image_subsizes() {
 	// The js that handles the response would need to also handle HTTP 500 errors.
 	wp_update_image_subsizes( $attachment_id );
 
-	if ( ! empty( $_POST['_legasy_support'] ) ) {
+	if ( ! empty( $_POST['_legacy_support'] ) ) {
 		// The old (inline) uploader. Only needs the attachment_id.
 		$response = array( 'id' => $attachment_id );
 	} else {
@@ -2478,8 +2458,6 @@ function wp_ajax_media_create_image_subsizes() {
 	}
 
 	// At this point the image has been uploaded successfully.
-	_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 9cd626ec0b..3812dc8000 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/file.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/file.php
@@ -981,64 +981,6 @@ 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/image.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/image.php
index 664b83519f..1582ceb3df 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/image.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/image.php
@@ -251,6 +251,12 @@ function wp_create_image_subsizes( $file, $attachment_id ) {
 			return $image_meta;
 		}
 
+		// Set a custom header with the attachment_id.
+		// Used by the browser/client to resume creating image sub-sizes after a PHP fatal error.
+		if ( ! headers_sent() ) {
+			header( 'X-WP-Upload-Attachment-ID: ' . $attachment_id );
+		}
+
 		// Resize the image
 		$resized = $editor->resize( $threshold, $threshold );
 		$rotated = null;
@@ -273,6 +279,8 @@ function wp_create_image_subsizes( $file, $attachment_id ) {
 				if ( true === $rotated && ! empty( $image_meta['image_meta']['orientation'] ) ) {
 					$image_meta['image_meta']['orientation'] = 1;
 				}
+
+				wp_update_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, $image_meta );
 			} else {
 				// TODO: handle errors.
 			}
@@ -289,6 +297,10 @@ function wp_create_image_subsizes( $file, $attachment_id ) {
 			return $image_meta;
 		}
 
+		if ( ! headers_sent() ) {
+			header( 'X-WP-Upload-Attachment-ID: ' . $attachment_id );
+		}
+
 		// Rotate the image
 		$rotated = $editor->maybe_exif_rotate();
 
@@ -303,6 +315,8 @@ function wp_create_image_subsizes( $file, $attachment_id ) {
 				if ( ! empty( $image_meta['image_meta']['orientation'] ) ) {
 					$image_meta['image_meta']['orientation'] = 1;
 				}
+
+				wp_update_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, $image_meta );
 			} else {
 				// TODO: handle errors.
 			}
@@ -386,6 +400,12 @@ function _wp_make_subsizes( $new_sizes, $file, $image_meta, $attachment_id ) {
 		return $image_meta;
 	}
 
+	// Set a custom header with the attachment_id.
+	// Used by the browser/client to resume creating image sub-sizes after a PHP fatal error.
+	if ( ! headers_sent() ) {
+		header( 'X-WP-Upload-Attachment-ID: ' . $attachment_id );
+	}
+
 	// If stored EXIF data exists, rotate the source image before creating sub-sizes.
 	if ( ! empty( $image_meta['image_meta'] ) ) {
 		$rotated = $editor->maybe_exif_rotate();
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php
index 6987acb166..18e87baa71 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/media.php
@@ -314,7 +314,6 @@ function media_handle_upload( $file_id, $post_id, $post_data = array(), $overrid
 	$title   = sanitize_text_field( $name );
 	$content = '';
 	$excerpt = '';
-	$_ref    = false;
 
 	if ( preg_match( '#^audio#', $type ) ) {
 		$meta = wp_read_audio_metadata( $file );
@@ -409,20 +408,9 @@ function media_handle_upload( $file_id, $post_id, $post_data = array(), $overrid
 	$attachment_id = wp_insert_attachment( $attachment, $file, $post_id, true );
 
 	if ( ! is_wp_error( $attachment_id ) ) {
-		// If an image, keep the upload reference until all image sub-sizes are created.
-		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().
 		// This is generally slow and may cause timeouts or out of memory errors.
 		wp_update_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, wp_generate_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, $file ) );
-
-		// 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 ( $_ref ) {
-			_wp_clear_upload_ref( $_POST['_wp_temp_upload_ref'] );
-		}
 	}
 
 	return $attachment_id;