diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c
index 0e28b9a7936e..96dd0f6ccd0d 100644
--- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c
+++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c
@@ -619,6 +619,12 @@ static int media_pipeline_explore_next_link(struct media_pipeline *pipe,
 	link = list_entry(entry->links, typeof(*link), list);
 	last_link = media_pipeline_walk_pop(walk);
 
+	if ((link->flags & MEDIA_LNK_FL_LINK_TYPE) != MEDIA_LNK_FL_DATA_LINK) {
+		dev_dbg(walk->mdev->dev,
+			"media pipeline: skipping link (not data-link)\n");
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	dev_dbg(walk->mdev->dev,
 		"media pipeline: exploring link '%s':%u -> '%s':%u\n",
 		link->source->entity->name, link->source->index,