diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/descriptions.c b/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/descriptions.c
index ac27e7dfcc..9591f5906c 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/descriptions.c
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/descriptions.c
@@ -839,7 +839,7 @@ gst_pb_utils_get_decoder_description (const GstCaps * caps)
 
   tmp = copy_and_clean_caps (caps);
 
-  g_return_val_if_fail (gst_caps_is_fixed (tmp), NULL);
+  g_return_val_if_fail (has_single_media_type (tmp), NULL);
 
   /* special-case RTP caps */
   if (caps_are_rtp_caps (tmp, "video", &str)) {
@@ -890,7 +890,7 @@ gst_pb_utils_get_encoder_description (const GstCaps * caps)
   g_return_val_if_fail (caps != NULL, NULL);
   g_return_val_if_fail (GST_IS_CAPS (caps), NULL);
   tmp = copy_and_clean_caps (caps);
-  g_return_val_if_fail (gst_caps_is_fixed (tmp), NULL);
+  g_return_val_if_fail (has_single_media_type (tmp), NULL);
 
   /* special-case RTP caps */
   if (caps_are_rtp_caps (tmp, "video", &str)) {
@@ -1021,7 +1021,7 @@ gst_pb_utils_get_codec_description (const GstCaps * caps)
   g_return_val_if_fail (caps != NULL, NULL);
   g_return_val_if_fail (GST_IS_CAPS (caps), NULL);
   tmp = copy_and_clean_caps (caps);
-  g_return_val_if_fail (gst_caps_is_fixed (tmp), NULL);
+  g_return_val_if_fail (has_single_media_type (tmp), NULL);
 
   info = find_format_info (tmp);
 
diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/missing-plugins.c b/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/missing-plugins.c
index 7d7f2f4f98..6ff16d5fb9 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/missing-plugins.c
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/missing-plugins.c
@@ -156,6 +156,25 @@ copy_and_clean_caps (const GstCaps * caps)
   return ret;
 }
 
+gboolean
+has_single_media_type (const GstCaps * caps)
+{
+  guint n, ns;
+  const char *name0, *namen;
+
+  g_return_val_if_fail (GST_IS_CAPS (caps), FALSE);
+
+  name0 = gst_structure_get_name (gst_caps_get_structure (caps, 0));
+  ns = gst_caps_get_size (caps);
+  for (n = 1; n < ns; ++n) {
+    namen = gst_structure_get_name (gst_caps_get_structure (caps, n));
+    if (strcmp (name0, namen)) {
+      return FALSE;
+    }
+  }
+  return TRUE;
+}
+
 /**
  * gst_missing_uri_source_message_new:
  * @element: the #GstElement posting the message
@@ -319,7 +338,7 @@ gst_missing_encoder_message_new (GstElement * element,
   g_return_val_if_fail (GST_IS_CAPS (encode_caps), NULL);
   g_return_val_if_fail (!gst_caps_is_any (encode_caps), NULL);
   g_return_val_if_fail (!gst_caps_is_empty (encode_caps), NULL);
-  g_return_val_if_fail (gst_caps_is_fixed (encode_caps), NULL);
+  g_return_val_if_fail (has_single_media_type (encode_caps), NULL);
 
   description = gst_pb_utils_get_encoder_description (encode_caps);
   caps = copy_and_clean_caps (encode_caps);
diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/pbutils-private.h b/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/pbutils-private.h
index 82fd22c890..bb475a337b 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/pbutils-private.h
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/pbutils/pbutils-private.h
@@ -107,3 +107,4 @@ struct _GstDiscovererInfo {
 /* missing-plugins.c */
 
 GstCaps *copy_and_clean_caps (const GstCaps * caps);
+gboolean has_single_media_type (const GstCaps * caps);