diff --git a/gst/gsttracerrecord.c b/gst/gsttracerrecord.c
index 060aead6d7..73ecc7dfaf 100644
--- a/gst/gsttracerrecord.c
+++ b/gst/gsttracerrecord.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #define GST_USE_UNSTABLE_API
 
 #include "gst_private.h"
+#include "gstenumtypes.h"
 #include "gstinfo.h"
 #include "gststructure.h"
 #include "gsttracerrecord.h"
@@ -73,14 +74,28 @@ build_field_template (GQuark field_id, const GValue * value, gpointer user_data)
   const GstStructure *sub;
   GValue template_value = { 0, };
   GType type;
+  GstTracerValueFlags flags;
   gboolean res;
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (G_VALUE_TYPE (value) == GST_TYPE_STRUCTURE, FALSE);
 
   sub = gst_value_get_structure (value);
-  type = g_value_get_gtype (gst_structure_get_value (sub, "type"));
-  g_value_init (&template_value, type);
+  gst_structure_get (sub, "type", G_TYPE_GTYPE, &type, "flags",
+      GST_TYPE_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS, &flags, NULL);
 
+  if (flags & GST_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS_OPTIONAL) {
+    gchar *opt_name = g_strconcat ("have-", g_quark_to_string (field_id), NULL);
+
+    /* add a boolean field, that indicates the presence of the next field */
+    g_value_init (&template_value, G_TYPE_BOOLEAN);
+    res =
+        priv__gst_structure_append_template_to_gstring (g_quark_from_string
+        (opt_name), &template_value, s);
+    g_value_unset (&template_value);
+    g_free (opt_name);
+  }
+
+  g_value_init (&template_value, type);
   res = priv__gst_structure_append_template_to_gstring (field_id,
       &template_value, s);
   g_value_unset (&template_value);
diff --git a/gst/gsttracerrecord.h b/gst/gsttracerrecord.h
index 9aef0a67b5..5e66fa6716 100644
--- a/gst/gsttracerrecord.h
+++ b/gst/gsttracerrecord.h
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ typedef enum
 /**
  * GstTracerValueFlags:
  * @GST_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS_NONE: no flags
- * @GST_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS_OPTIONAL: the value is optional
+ * @GST_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS_OPTIONAL: the value is optional. When using this flag
+ *   one need to have an additional boolean arg before this value in the
+ *   var-args list passed to  gst_tracer_record_log().
  * @GST_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS_AGGREGATED: the value is combined since the start of
  *   tracing
  *
diff --git a/plugins/tracers/gststats.c b/plugins/tracers/gststats.c
index 8ad2f15d30..28349861ce 100644
--- a/plugins/tracers/gststats.c
+++ b/plugins/tracers/gststats.c
@@ -657,13 +657,10 @@ gst_stats_tracer_class_init (GstStatsTracerClass * klass)
           "type", G_TYPE_GTYPE, GST_TYPE_STRUCTURE,
           "description", G_TYPE_STRING, "query structure",
           NULL),
-      "have-res", GST_TYPE_STRUCTURE, gst_structure_new ("value",
-          "type", G_TYPE_GTYPE, G_TYPE_BOOLEAN,
-          "description", G_TYPE_STRING, "have query result",
-          NULL),
       "res", GST_TYPE_STRUCTURE, gst_structure_new ("value",
           "type", G_TYPE_GTYPE, G_TYPE_BOOLEAN,
           "description", G_TYPE_STRING, "query result",
+          "flags", GST_TYPE_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS, GST_TRACER_VALUE_FLAGS_OPTIONAL,
           NULL),
       /* TODO(ensonic): "buffer-flags" */
       NULL));