diff --git a/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsession.c b/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsession.c
index 081de5070a..0ddb2b584f 100644
--- a/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsession.c
+++ b/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsession.c
@@ -673,7 +673,7 @@ rtp_session_init (RTPSession * sess)
   sess->rtcp_rs_bandwidth = DEFAULT_RTCP_RS_BANDWIDTH;
 
   /* default UDP header length */
-  sess->header_len = 28;
+  sess->header_len = UDP_IP_HEADER_OVERHEAD;
   sess->mtu = DEFAULT_RTCP_MTU;
 
   sess->probation = DEFAULT_PROBATION;
diff --git a/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsource.c b/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsource.c
index 7079e168a7..78e6746e5e 100644
--- a/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsource.c
+++ b/gst/rtpmanager/rtpsource.c
@@ -1188,8 +1188,8 @@ update_receiver_stats (RTPSource * src, RTPPacketInfo * pinfo,
   src->stats.octets_received += pinfo->payload_len;
   src->stats.bytes_received += pinfo->bytes;
   src->stats.packets_received += pinfo->packets;
-  /* for the bitrate estimation */
-  src->bytes_received += pinfo->payload_len;
+  /* for the bitrate estimation consider all lower level headers */
+  src->bytes_received += pinfo->bytes;
 
   GST_LOG ("seq %u, PC: %" G_GUINT64_FORMAT ", OC: %" G_GUINT64_FORMAT,
       seqnr, src->stats.packets_received, src->stats.octets_received);
@@ -1319,7 +1319,7 @@ rtp_source_send_rtp (RTPSource * src, RTPPacketInfo * pinfo)
   /* update stats for the SR */
   src->stats.packets_sent += pinfo->packets;
   src->stats.octets_sent += pinfo->payload_len;
-  src->bytes_sent += pinfo->payload_len;
+  src->bytes_sent += pinfo->bytes;
 
   running_time = pinfo->running_time;
 
diff --git a/gst/rtpmanager/rtpstats.h b/gst/rtpmanager/rtpstats.h
index b8b26ecee6..bd3a54efed 100644
--- a/gst/rtpmanager/rtpstats.h
+++ b/gst/rtpmanager/rtpstats.h
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@
 #include <gst/rtp/rtp.h>
 #include <gio/gio.h>
 
+/* UDP/IP is assumed for bandwidth calculation */
+#define UDP_IP_HEADER_OVERHEAD 28
+
 /**
  * RTPSenderReport:
  *