diff --git a/lib/player.js b/lib/player.js
index 5e526a1aac6..56b4fc1928f 100644
--- a/lib/player.js
+++ b/lib/player.js
@@ -1236,6 +1236,7 @@ shaka.Player = class extends shaka.util.FakeEventTarget {
    */
   shouldUseSrcEquals_(payload) {
     const Platform = shaka.util.Platform;
+    const MimeUtils = shaka.util.MimeUtils;
 
     // If we are using a platform that does not support media source, we will
     // fall back to src= to handle all playback.
@@ -1290,7 +1291,8 @@ shaka.Player = class extends shaka.util.FakeEventTarget {
       // version there.
 
       // Native HLS can be preferred on any platform via this flag:
-      if (this.config_.streaming.preferNativeHls) {
+      if (MimeUtils.isHlsType(mimeType) &&
+          this.config_.streaming.preferNativeHls) {
         return true;
       }
 
diff --git a/lib/util/mime_utils.js b/lib/util/mime_utils.js
index 1471142f841..84350e53198 100644
--- a/lib/util/mime_utils.js
+++ b/lib/util/mime_utils.js
@@ -196,6 +196,17 @@ shaka.util.MimeUtils = class {
     return value;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Checks if the given MIME type is HLS MIME type.
+   *
+   * @param {string} mimeType
+   * @return {boolean}
+   */
+  static isHlsType(mimeType) {
+    return mimeType === 'application/x-mpegurl' ||
+        mimeType === 'application/vnd.apple.mpegurl';
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get the base and profile of a codec string. Where [0] will be the codec
    * base and [1] will be the profile.
diff --git a/test/player_unit.js b/test/player_unit.js
index e0ee903b213..673a79b1e30 100644
--- a/test/player_unit.js
+++ b/test/player_unit.js
@@ -554,6 +554,60 @@ describe('Player', () => {
         expect(streamingEngine.unloadTextStream).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
       });
     });
+
+    describe('when config.streaming.preferNativeHls is set to true', () => {
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        shaka.media.ManifestParser.registerParserByMime(
+            'application/x-mpegurl',
+            () => new shaka.test.FakeManifestParser(manifest));
+      });
+
+      afterEach(() => {
+        shaka.media.ManifestParser.unregisterParserByMime(
+            'application/x-mpegurl');
+        video.canPlayType.calls.reset();
+      });
+
+      it('only applies to HLS streams', async () => {
+        video.canPlayType.and.returnValue('maybe');
+        spyOn(shaka.util.Platform, 'anyMediaElement').and.returnValue(video);
+        spyOn(shaka.util.Platform, 'supportsMediaSource').and.returnValue(true);
+        spyOn(shaka.util.Platform, 'isApple').and.returnValue(false);
+        // Make sure player.load() resolves for src=
+        spyOn(shaka.util.MediaReadyState, 'waitForReadyState').and.callFake(
+            (mediaElement, readyState, eventManager, callback) => {
+              callback();
+            });
+
+        player.configure({
+          streaming: {
+            preferNativeHls: true,
+            useNativeHlsOnSafari: false,
+          },
+        });
+
+        await player.load(fakeManifestUri, undefined, 'application/x-mpegurl');
+
+        expect(player.getLoadMode()).toBe(shaka.Player.LoadMode.SRC_EQUALS);
+      });
+
+      it('does not apply to non-HLS streams', async () => {
+        video.canPlayType.and.returnValue('maybe');
+        spyOn(shaka.util.Platform, 'supportsMediaSource').and.returnValue(true);
+        spyOn(shaka.util.Platform, 'isApple').and.returnValue(false);
+
+        player.configure({
+          streaming: {
+            preferNativeHls: true,
+            useNativeHlsOnSafari: false,
+          },
+        });
+
+        await player.load(fakeManifestUri, 0, fakeMimeType);
+
+        expect(player.getLoadMode()).toBe(shaka.Player.LoadMode.MEDIA_SOURCE);
+      });
+    });
   });  // describe('load/unload')
 
   describe('getConfiguration', () => {
diff --git a/test/test/util/fake_drm_engine.js b/test/test/util/fake_drm_engine.js
index 79140c5d432..85097bb417b 100644
--- a/test/test/util/fake_drm_engine.js
+++ b/test/test/util/fake_drm_engine.js
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ shaka.test.FakeDrmEngine = class {
     /** @type {!jasmine.Spy} */
     this.supportsVariant = jasmine.createSpy('supportsVariant');
     this.supportsVariant.and.returnValue(true);
+
+    /** @type {!jasmine.Spy} */
+    this.setSrcEquals = jasmine.createSpy('setSrcEquals');
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/test/test/util/simple_fakes.js b/test/test/util/simple_fakes.js
index 073b54b4bd3..53d79142081 100644
--- a/test/test/util/simple_fakes.js
+++ b/test/test/util/simple_fakes.js
@@ -228,6 +228,9 @@ shaka.test.FakeVideo = class {
 
     /** @type {!jasmine.Spy} */
     this.dispatchEvent = jasmine.createSpy('dispatchEvent');
+
+    /** @type {!jasmine.Spy} */
+    this.canPlayType = jasmine.createSpy('canPlayType');
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/test/util/mime_utils_unit.js b/test/util/mime_utils_unit.js
index 0364314ac10..3fe9799a99e 100644
--- a/test/util/mime_utils_unit.js
+++ b/test/util/mime_utils_unit.js
@@ -51,4 +51,14 @@ describe('MimeUtils', () => {
     expect(getNormalizedCodec('dvh1.05')).toBe('dovi');
     expect(getNormalizedCodec('dvhe.05')).toBe('dovi');
   });
+
+  it('isHlsType', () => {
+    const isHlsType = (mimeType) => shaka.util.MimeUtils.isHlsType(mimeType);
+
+    expect(isHlsType('application/x-mpegurl')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isHlsType('application/vnd.apple.mpegurl')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isHlsType('application/dash+xml')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isHlsType('application/vnd.ms-sstr+xml')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isHlsType('foo')).toBe(false);
+  });
 });