diff --git a/tools/ges-launch.c b/tools/ges-launch.c
index cdc8afdb6d..c4ebef3be4 100644
--- a/tools/ges-launch.c
+++ b/tools/ges-launch.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ static GMainLoop *mainloop;
 static GHashTable *tried_uris;
 static GESTrackType track_types = GES_TRACK_TYPE_AUDIO | GES_TRACK_TYPE_VIDEO;
 static GESTimeline *timeline;
+static gboolean needs_set_state;
 
 static gchar *
 ensure_uri (gchar * location)
@@ -217,7 +218,7 @@ project_loaded_cb (GESProject * project, GESTimeline * timeline)
     }
   }
 
-  if (gst_element_set_state (GST_ELEMENT (pipeline),
+  if (needs_set_state && gst_element_set_state (GST_ELEMENT (pipeline),
           GST_STATE_PLAYING) == GST_STATE_CHANGE_FAILURE) {
     g_error ("Failed to start the pipeline\n");
   }
@@ -265,7 +266,6 @@ create_timeline (int nbargs, gchar ** argv, const gchar * proj_uri,
   GESLayer *layer = NULL;
   GESTrack *tracka = NULL, *trackv = NULL;
   GESTimeline *timeline;
-  gboolean activate_before_paused = TRUE;
   guint i, clip_added_sigid = 0;
   GstClockTime next_trans_dur = 0;
   GESProject *project = ges_project_new (proj_uri);
@@ -284,8 +284,7 @@ create_timeline (int nbargs, gchar ** argv, const gchar * proj_uri,
   timeline = GES_TIMELINE (ges_asset_extract (GES_ASSET (project), NULL));
 
   if (proj_uri) {
-    activate_before_paused = FALSE;
-    goto activate_validate;
+    goto done;
   }
 
   g_object_set (timeline, "auto-transition", TRUE, NULL);
@@ -321,7 +320,6 @@ create_timeline (int nbargs, gchar ** argv, const gchar * proj_uri,
     if (i == 0) {
       /* We are only going to be doing one layer of clips */
       layer = (GESLayer *) ges_layer_new ();
-      activate_before_paused = FALSE;
 
       /* Add the tracks and the layer to the timeline */
       if (!ges_timeline_add_layer (timeline, layer))
@@ -421,12 +419,7 @@ create_timeline (int nbargs, gchar ** argv, const gchar * proj_uri,
 
   }
 
-activate_validate:
-  if (ges_validate_activate (GST_PIPELINE (pipeline), scenario,
-          activate_before_paused) == FALSE) {
-    g_error ("Could not activate scenario %s", scenario);
-    return NULL;
-  }
+done:
   return timeline;
 
 build_failure:
@@ -937,11 +930,17 @@ main (int argc, gchar ** argv)
     g_timeout_add (1000 * thumbinterval, thumbnail_cb, pipeline);
   }
 
+  if (ges_validate_activate (GST_PIPELINE (pipeline), scenario,
+          &needs_set_state) == FALSE) {
+    g_error ("Could not activate scenario %s", scenario);
+    return 29;
+  }
+
   bus = gst_pipeline_get_bus (GST_PIPELINE (pipeline));
   gst_bus_add_signal_watch (bus);
   g_signal_connect (bus, "message", G_CALLBACK (bus_message_cb), mainloop);
 
-  if (load_path == NULL && gst_element_set_state (GST_ELEMENT (pipeline),
+  if (needs_set_state && gst_element_set_state (GST_ELEMENT (pipeline),
           GST_STATE_PLAYING) == GST_STATE_CHANGE_FAILURE) {
     g_error ("Failed to start the pipeline\n");
     return 1;
diff --git a/tools/ges-validate.c b/tools/ges-validate.c
index 4613f50eeb..c44f56a1a3 100644
--- a/tools/ges-validate.c
+++ b/tools/ges-validate.c
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ beach:
 
 gboolean
 ges_validate_activate (GstPipeline * pipeline, const gchar * scenario,
-    gboolean activate_before_paused)
+    gboolean * needs_setting_state)
 {
   GstValidateRunner *runner = NULL;
   GstValidateMonitor *monitor = NULL;
@@ -530,7 +530,8 @@ ges_validate_activate (GstPipeline * pipeline, const gchar * scenario,
       gst_validate_monitor_factory_create (GST_OBJECT_CAST (pipeline), runner,
       NULL);
 
-  g_object_set (monitor, "stateless", activate_before_paused, NULL);
+  g_object_get (monitor, "handles-states", needs_setting_state, NULL);
+  *needs_setting_state = !*needs_setting_state;
   g_object_set_data (G_OBJECT (pipeline), MONITOR_ON_PIPELINE, monitor);
   g_object_set_data (G_OBJECT (pipeline), RUNNER_ON_PIPELINE, runner);
 
@@ -596,7 +597,7 @@ _print_position (GstElement * pipeline)
 
 gboolean
 ges_validate_activate (GstPipeline * pipeline, const gchar * scenario,
-    gboolean activate_before_paused)
+    gboolean * needs_setting_state)
 {
   if (scenario) {
     GST_WARNING ("Trying to run scenario %s, but gst-validate not supported",
@@ -609,6 +610,8 @@ ges_validate_activate (GstPipeline * pipeline, const gchar * scenario,
       GUINT_TO_POINTER (g_timeout_add (200,
               (GSourceFunc) _print_position, pipeline)));
 
+  *needs_setting_state = TRUE;
+
   return TRUE;
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/ges-validate.h b/tools/ges-validate.h
index 389837c42f..dbf6083abc 100644
--- a/tools/ges-validate.h
+++ b/tools/ges-validate.h
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
 gboolean
-ges_validate_activate (GstPipeline *pipeline, const gchar *scenario, gboolean activate_before_paused);
+ges_validate_activate (GstPipeline *pipeline, const gchar *scenario, gboolean *needs_set_state);
 
 gint
 ges_validate_clean (GstPipeline *pipeline);