diff --git a/next-cloudinary/src/components/CldVideoPlayer/CldVideoPlayer.tsx b/next-cloudinary/src/components/CldVideoPlayer/CldVideoPlayer.tsx
index b327aa43..147dba5e 100644
--- a/next-cloudinary/src/components/CldVideoPlayer/CldVideoPlayer.tsx
+++ b/next-cloudinary/src/components/CldVideoPlayer/CldVideoPlayer.tsx
@@ -1,86 +1,84 @@
-import React, {useRef, MutableRefObject, useEffect, useId} from 'react';
+/**
+ * @issue https://github.com/cloudinary-community/next-cloudinary/issues/575
+ * The original component accepted a custom `playerRef` prop. This ref was populated
+ * asynchronously after an external script loaded, making it impossible for parent
+ * components to reliably access the player instance on mount (e.g., in a useEffect).
+ *
+ * @solution
+ * This refactor upgrades the component to use standard React ref forwarding.
+ * 1.  It is wrapped in `React.forwardRef` to accept a standard `ref` attribute.
+ * 2.  It uses a `useState` hook (`player`) to trigger a re-render when the async
+ * player instance is created.
+ * 3.  `useImperativeHandle` is used to expose the player instance on the parent's
+ * ref only after it has been successfully created, ensuring the ref is
+ * populated correctly and reliably.
+ */
+import React, { useState, useRef, MutableRefObject, useEffect, useId, forwardRef, useImperativeHandle } from 'react';
 import Script from 'next/script';
 import Head from 'next/head';
 import { CloudinaryVideoPlayer } from '@cloudinary-util/types';
 import { getVideoPlayerOptions } from '@cloudinary-util/url-loader';
 
 import { CldVideoPlayerProps } from './CldVideoPlayer.types';
-
 import { getCloudinaryConfig } from "../../lib/cloudinary";
 
 let playerInstances: string[] = [];
-
 const PLAYER_VERSION = '1.11.1';
 
-const CldVideoPlayer = (props: CldVideoPlayerProps) => {
+const CldVideoPlayer = forwardRef<CloudinaryVideoPlayer | null, CldVideoPlayerProps>((props, ref) => {
+
+  const [player, setPlayer] = useState<CloudinaryVideoPlayer | null>(null);
 
   const {
-    className,
-    config,
-    height,
-    id,
-    onDataLoad,
-    onError,
-    onMetadataLoad,
-    onPause,
-    onPlay,
-    onEnded,
-    width,
+    className, config, height, id, onDataLoad, onError, onMetadataLoad, onPause, onPlay, onEnded, width,
+    // The old `playerRef` prop is destructured and ignored to favor the new standard `ref` system.
+    playerRef: unusedPlayerRef,
   } = props;
 
   const uniqueId = useId();
-
   const cloudinaryConfig = getCloudinaryConfig(config);
   const playerOptions = getVideoPlayerOptions(props, cloudinaryConfig);
   const { publicId } = playerOptions;
-  if ( typeof publicId === 'undefined' ) {
+
+  if (typeof publicId === 'undefined') {
     throw new Error('Video Player requires a Public ID or Cloudinary URL - please specify a src prop');
   }
 
-  // Setup the refs and allow for the caller to pass through their
-  // own ref instance
-
   const cloudinaryRef = useRef<any>();
   const defaultVideoRef = useRef() as MutableRefObject<HTMLVideoElement | null>;
   const videoRef = props.videoRef || defaultVideoRef;
-  const defaultPlayerRef = useRef()as MutableRefObject<CloudinaryVideoPlayer | null>;
-  const playerRef = props.playerRef || defaultPlayerRef;
+
+  const playerRef = useRef<CloudinaryVideoPlayer | null>(null);
+
+  // Expose the player state via the forwarded ref. The dependency array ensures this
+  // updates the parent's ref only when the player instance has been created.
+  useImperativeHandle(ref, () => player as CloudinaryVideoPlayer, [player]);
 
   const playerId = id || `player-${uniqueId.replace(/:/g, '')}`;
   let playerClassName = 'cld-video-player cld-fluid';
 
-  if ( className ) {
+  if (className) {
     playerClassName = `${playerClassName} ${className}`;
   }
 
-  // Check if the same id is being used for multiple video instances.
-  const checkForMultipleInstance = playerInstances.filter((id) => id === playerId).length > 1
+  const checkForMultipleInstance = playerInstances.filter((id) => id === playerId).length > 1;
   if (checkForMultipleInstance) {
-    console.warn(`Multiple instances of the same video detected on the
-     page which may cause some features to not work.
-    Try adding a unique id to each player.`)
+    console.warn(`Multiple instances of the same video detected on the page which may cause some features to not work. Try adding a unique id to each player.`);
   } else {
-    playerInstances.push(playerId)
+    playerInstances.push(playerId);
   }
 
-  const events: Record<string, Function|undefined> = {
-    error: onError,
-    loadeddata: onDataLoad,
-    loadedmetadata: onMetadataLoad,
-    pause: onPause,
-    play: onPlay,
-    ended: onEnded
+  const events: Record<string, Function | undefined> = {
+    error: onError, loadeddata: onDataLoad, loadedmetadata: onMetadataLoad, pause: onPause, play: onPlay, ended: onEnded
   };
 
   /**
    * handleEvent
    * @description Event handler for all player events
    */
-
   function handleEvent(event: { type: 'string' }) {
     const activeEvent = events[event.type];
-
-    if ( typeof activeEvent === 'function' ) {
+    if (typeof activeEvent === 'function') {
       activeEvent(getPlayerRefs());
     }
   }
@@ -89,14 +87,18 @@ const CldVideoPlayer = (props: CldVideoPlayerProps) => {
    * handleOnLoad
    * @description Stores the Cloudinary window instance to a ref when the widget script loads
    */
-
   function handleOnLoad() {
-    if ( 'cloudinary' in window ) {
+    if ('cloudinary' in window) {
       cloudinaryRef.current = window.cloudinary;
-      playerRef.current = cloudinaryRef.current.videoPlayer(videoRef.current, playerOptions);
+      const newPlayer = cloudinaryRef.current.videoPlayer(videoRef.current, playerOptions);
+
+      playerRef.current = newPlayer;
+
+      // Set the player state to trigger a re-render, which in turn updates the forwarded ref.
+      setPlayer(newPlayer);
 
       Object.keys(events).forEach((key) => {
-        if ( typeof events[key] === 'function' ) {
+        if (typeof events[key] === 'function') {
           playerRef.current?.on(key, handleEvent);
         }
       });
@@ -104,22 +106,17 @@ const CldVideoPlayer = (props: CldVideoPlayerProps) => {
   }
 
   useEffect(() => {
-
     return () => {
       playerRef.current?.videojs.cloudinary.dispose();
-      playerInstances = playerInstances.filter((id) => id !== playerId)
+      playerInstances = playerInstances.filter((id) => id !== playerId);
     }
   }, []);
 
   /**
-   *getPlayerRefs
+   * getPlayerRefs
    */
-
   function getPlayerRefs() {
-    return {
-      player: playerRef.current,
-      video: videoRef.current
-    }
+    return { player: playerRef.current, video: videoRef.current }
   }
 
   return (
@@ -127,7 +124,7 @@ const CldVideoPlayer = (props: CldVideoPlayerProps) => {
       <Head>
         <link href={`https://unpkg.com/cloudinary-video-player@${PLAYER_VERSION}/dist/cld-video-player.min.css`} rel="stylesheet" />
       </Head>
-      <div style={{ width: '100%', aspectRatio: `${width} / ${height}`}}>
+      <div style={{ width: '100%', aspectRatio: `${width} / ${height}` }}>
         <video
           ref={videoRef}
           id={playerId}
@@ -144,6 +141,6 @@ const CldVideoPlayer = (props: CldVideoPlayerProps) => {
       </div>
     </>
   );
-};
+});
 
 export default CldVideoPlayer;