diff --git a/plugins/elements/gstmultiqueue.c b/plugins/elements/gstmultiqueue.c
index 9e9209c08e..7a9cd5fceb 100644
--- a/plugins/elements/gstmultiqueue.c
+++ b/plugins/elements/gstmultiqueue.c
@@ -1614,17 +1614,30 @@ gst_multi_queue_sink_query (GstPad * pad, GstObject * parent, GstQuery * query)
         if (sq->srcresult != GST_FLOW_OK)
           goto out_flushing;
 
-        /* Get an unique incrementing id. */
-        curid = g_atomic_int_add ((gint *) & mq->counter, 1);
+        /* serialized events go in the queue. We need to be certain that we
+         * don't cause deadlocks waiting for the query return value. We check if
+         * the queue is empty (nothing is blocking downstream and the query can
+         * be pushed for sure) or we are not buffering. If we are buffering,
+         * the pipeline waits to unblock downstream until our queue fills up
+         * completely, which can not happen if we block on the query..
+         * Therefore we only potentially block when we are not buffering. */
+        if (!mq->use_buffering || gst_data_queue_is_empty (sq->queue)) {
+          /* Get an unique incrementing id. */
+          curid = g_atomic_int_add ((gint *) & mq->counter, 1);
 
-        item = gst_multi_queue_mo_item_new ((GstMiniObject *) query, curid);
+          item = gst_multi_queue_mo_item_new ((GstMiniObject *) query, curid);
 
-        GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (mq,
-            "SingleQueue %d : Enqueuing query %p of type %s with id %d",
-            sq->id, query, GST_QUERY_TYPE_NAME (query), curid);
-        res = gst_data_queue_push (sq->queue, (GstDataQueueItem *) item);
-        g_cond_wait (&sq->query_handled, &mq->qlock);
-        res = sq->last_query;
+          GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (mq,
+              "SingleQueue %d : Enqueuing query %p of type %s with id %d",
+              sq->id, query, GST_QUERY_TYPE_NAME (query), curid);
+          res = gst_data_queue_push (sq->queue, (GstDataQueueItem *) item);
+          g_cond_wait (&sq->query_handled, &mq->qlock);
+          res = sq->last_query;
+        } else {
+          GST_DEBUG_OBJECT (mq, "refusing query, we are buffering and the "
+              "queue is not empty");
+          res = FALSE;
+        }
         GST_MULTI_QUEUE_MUTEX_UNLOCK (mq);
       } else {
         /* default handling */