diff --git a/gst/gstparse.c b/gst/gstparse.c
index 241453c79b..88ca34bff3 100644
--- a/gst/gstparse.c
+++ b/gst/gstparse.c
@@ -263,8 +263,10 @@ make_links (graph_t *g, GError **error)
     b = c->sink_pads;
     caps = c->caps;
     
-    gst_caps_ref (caps);
-    gst_caps_sink (caps);
+    if (caps) {
+      gst_caps_ref (caps);
+      gst_caps_sink (caps);
+    }
 
     gst_caps_debug (caps, "foo");
     /* g_print ("a: %p, b: %p\n", a, b); */
@@ -367,7 +369,9 @@ make_links (graph_t *g, GError **error)
       }
     }
 next:
-    gst_caps_unref (caps);
+    if (caps) {
+      gst_caps_unref (caps);
+    }
     l = g_list_next (l);
   }