diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c
index f83e043f0f3b..8ab0913d8d82 100644
--- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c
+++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-entity.c
@@ -396,20 +396,21 @@ __must_check int __media_pipeline_start(struct media_entity *entity,
 	struct media_link *link;
 	int ret;
 
-	if (!pipe->streaming_count++) {
-		ret = media_graph_walk_init(&pipe->graph, mdev);
-		if (ret)
-			goto error_graph_walk_start;
+	if (pipe->streaming_count) {
+		pipe->streaming_count++;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
+	ret = media_graph_walk_init(&pipe->graph, mdev);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
 	media_graph_walk_start(&pipe->graph, entity);
 
 	while ((entity = media_graph_walk_next(graph))) {
 		DECLARE_BITMAP(active, MEDIA_ENTITY_MAX_PADS);
 		DECLARE_BITMAP(has_no_links, MEDIA_ENTITY_MAX_PADS);
 
-		entity->stream_count++;
-
 		if (entity->pipe && entity->pipe != pipe) {
 			pr_err("Pipe active for %s. Can't start for %s\n",
 				entity->name,
@@ -418,12 +419,12 @@ __must_check int __media_pipeline_start(struct media_entity *entity,
 			goto error;
 		}
 
-		entity->pipe = pipe;
-
 		/* Already streaming --- no need to check. */
-		if (entity->stream_count > 1)
+		if (entity->pipe)
 			continue;
 
+		entity->pipe = pipe;
+
 		if (!entity->ops || !entity->ops->link_validate)
 			continue;
 
@@ -479,6 +480,8 @@ __must_check int __media_pipeline_start(struct media_entity *entity,
 		}
 	}
 
+	pipe->streaming_count++;
+
 	return 0;
 
 error:
@@ -489,24 +492,17 @@ __must_check int __media_pipeline_start(struct media_entity *entity,
 	media_graph_walk_start(graph, entity_err);
 
 	while ((entity_err = media_graph_walk_next(graph))) {
-		/* Sanity check for negative stream_count */
-		if (!WARN_ON_ONCE(entity_err->stream_count <= 0)) {
-			entity_err->stream_count--;
-			if (entity_err->stream_count == 0)
-				entity_err->pipe = NULL;
-		}
+		entity_err->pipe = NULL;
 
 		/*
-		 * We haven't increased stream_count further than this
-		 * so we quit here.
+		 * We haven't started entities further than this so we quit
+		 * here.
 		 */
 		if (entity_err == entity)
 			break;
 	}
 
-error_graph_walk_start:
-	if (!--pipe->streaming_count)
-		media_graph_walk_cleanup(graph);
+	media_graph_walk_cleanup(graph);
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -537,19 +533,15 @@ void __media_pipeline_stop(struct media_entity *entity)
 	if (WARN_ON(!pipe))
 		return;
 
+	if (--pipe->streaming_count)
+		return;
+
 	media_graph_walk_start(graph, entity);
 
-	while ((entity = media_graph_walk_next(graph))) {
-		/* Sanity check for negative stream_count */
-		if (!WARN_ON_ONCE(entity->stream_count <= 0)) {
-			entity->stream_count--;
-			if (entity->stream_count == 0)
-				entity->pipe = NULL;
-		}
-	}
+	while ((entity = media_graph_walk_next(graph)))
+		entity->pipe = NULL;
 
-	if (!--pipe->streaming_count)
-		media_graph_walk_cleanup(graph);
+	media_graph_walk_cleanup(graph);
 
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__media_pipeline_stop);
diff --git a/include/media/media-entity.h b/include/media/media-entity.h
index 8546f13c42a9..e3c4fd1e3623 100644
--- a/include/media/media-entity.h
+++ b/include/media/media-entity.h
@@ -268,7 +268,6 @@ enum media_entity_type {
  * @pads:	Pads array with the size defined by @num_pads.
  * @links:	List of data links.
  * @ops:	Entity operations.
- * @stream_count: Stream count for the entity.
  * @use_count:	Use count for the entity.
  * @pipe:	Pipeline this entity belongs to.
  * @info:	Union with devnode information.  Kept just for backward
@@ -283,10 +282,9 @@ enum media_entity_type {
  *
  * .. note::
  *
- *    @stream_count and @use_count reference counts must never be
- *    negative, but are signed integers on purpose: a simple ``WARN_ON(<0)``
- *    check can be used to detect reference count bugs that would make them
- *    negative.
+ *    The @use_count reference count must never be negative, but is a signed
+ *    integer on purpose: a simple ``WARN_ON(<0)`` check can be used to detect
+ *    reference count bugs that would make it negative.
  */
 struct media_entity {
 	struct media_gobj graph_obj;	/* must be first field in struct */
@@ -305,7 +303,6 @@ struct media_entity {
 
 	const struct media_entity_operations *ops;
 
-	int stream_count;
 	int use_count;
 
 	struct media_pipeline *pipe;
@@ -867,7 +864,7 @@ struct media_pad *media_entity_remote_pad(const struct media_pad *pad);
  */
 static inline bool media_entity_is_streaming(const struct media_entity *entity)
 {
-	return entity->stream_count > 0;
+	return entity->pipe != NULL;
 }
 
 /**
