diff --git a/sound/soc/soc-dapm.c b/sound/soc/soc-dapm.c
index 0b5d132bc3dd..8bfc534e3b34 100644
--- a/sound/soc/soc-dapm.c
+++ b/sound/soc/soc-dapm.c
@@ -3913,6 +3913,13 @@ int snd_soc_dapm_link_dai_widgets(struct snd_soc_card *card)
 			continue;
 		}
 
+		/* let users know there is no DAI to link */
+		if (!dai_w->priv) {
+			dev_dbg(card->dev, "dai widget %s has no DAI\n",
+				dai_w->name);
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		dai = dai_w->priv;
 
 		/* ...find all widgets with the same stream and link them */