The late Burt Reynolds regretted his steamy Cosmo centerfold, which he called "one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made." And for a few hours there, Facebook may have indirectly helped him out.

Social media users were frustrated when they tried sharing the iconic photo of Reynolds on Facebook to honor the actor who died at 82 on Thursday.

The image depicts Reynolds lying naked on a bearskin rug – one arm propping up his head, the other conveniently covering the NSFW part of the photo. The 1972 photo was the first male nude in Cosmopolitan magazine.

But Facebook users reported their posts with the photo being removed for violating community standards.

A Facebook spokesperson said Friday the posts were incorrectly removed because of automation that flags nudity. Facebook was working to restore the images, the spokesperson added.

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Before Facebook began working to restore posts, a few users had some creative ideas on how to get around the brief glitch.

Contributing: Bryan Alexander. Follow Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller