diff --git a/gst/law/mulaw-decode.c b/gst/law/mulaw-decode.c
index a26a34dfc7..cc3efa13be 100644
--- a/gst/law/mulaw-decode.c
+++ b/gst/law/mulaw-decode.c
@@ -159,4 +159,5 @@ gst_mulawdec_class_init (GstMuLawDecClass * klass)
 static void
 gst_mulawdec_init (GstMuLawDec * mulawdec)
 {
+  gst_audio_decoder_set_needs_format (GST_AUDIO_DECODER (mulawdec), TRUE);
 }