diff --git a/examples/lib/libcapture/main.c b/examples/lib/libcapture/main.c
index 8d285b40d13c..44a41a325948 100644
--- a/examples/lib/libcapture/main.c
+++ b/examples/lib/libcapture/main.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ static void *SimpleWorker(void *arg)
          * internal Packet access. */
         PKT_SET_SRC(p, PKT_SRC_WIRE);
         p->ts = SCTIME_FROM_TIMEVAL(&pkthdr.ts);
-        p->datalink = datalink;
+        SCPacketSetDatalink(p, datalink);
         SCPacketSetLiveDevice(p, device);
         SCPacketSetReleasePacket(p, ReleasePacket);
 
diff --git a/examples/plugins/ci-capture/source.c b/examples/plugins/ci-capture/source.c
index c6953b2f2590..28602935f77d 100644
--- a/examples/plugins/ci-capture/source.c
+++ b/examples/plugins/ci-capture/source.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "tm-modules.h"
 #include "tm-threads-common.h"
 #include "tm-threads.h"
+#include "packet.h"
 
 #include "source.h"
 
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ static TmEcode ReceiveLoop(ThreadVars *tv, void *data, void *slot)
     struct timeval now;
     gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
     p->ts = SCTIME_FROM_TIMEVAL(&now);
-    p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
     p->flags |= PKT_IGNORE_CHECKSUM;
 
     if (unlikely(PacketCopyData(p, DNS_REQUEST, sizeof(DNS_REQUEST)) != 0)) {
diff --git a/plugins/pfring/source-pfring.c b/plugins/pfring/source-pfring.c
index 516196254686..5ec11f816822 100644
--- a/plugins/pfring/source-pfring.c
+++ b/plugins/pfring/source-pfring.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ static inline void PfringProcessPacket(void *user, struct pfring_pkthdr *h, Pack
 
     /* PF_RING all packets are marked as a link type of ethernet
      * so that is what we do here. */
-    p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
 
     /* In the past, we needed this vlan handling in cases
      * where the vlan header was stripped from the raw packet.
diff --git a/src/source-af-packet.c b/src/source-af-packet.c
index 0a72a9b1b230..331539dfd4c4 100644
--- a/src/source-af-packet.c
+++ b/src/source-af-packet.c
@@ -773,7 +773,8 @@ static void AFPReadFromRingSetupPacket(
     h.h2->tp_status |= TP_STATUS_USER_BUSY;
     SCPacketSetLiveDevice(p, ptv->livedev);
 
-    p->datalink = ptv->datalink;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, ptv->datalink);
+
     ptv->pkts++;
 
     AFPReadApplyBypass(ptv, p);
@@ -972,7 +973,7 @@ static inline int AFPParsePacketV3(AFPThreadVars *ptv, struct tpacket_block_desc
 
     ptv->pkts++;
     SCPacketSetLiveDevice(p, ptv->livedev);
-    p->datalink = ptv->datalink;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, ptv->datalink);
 
     if ((ptv->flags & AFP_VLAN_IN_HEADER) &&
             (ppd->tp_status & TP_STATUS_VLAN_VALID || ppd->hv1.tp_vlan_tci)) {
diff --git a/src/source-af-xdp.c b/src/source-af-xdp.c
index 3c368e92c22e..e02e00b56e92 100644
--- a/src/source-af-xdp.c
+++ b/src/source-af-xdp.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "suricata-common.h"
 #include "suricata.h"
 #include "decode.h"
+#include "packet.h"
 #include "packet-queue.h"
 #include "threads.h"
 #include "threadvars.h"
@@ -784,7 +785,8 @@ static TmEcode ReceiveAFXDPLoop(ThreadVars *tv, void *data, void *slot)
             }
 
             PKT_SET_SRC(p, PKT_SRC_WIRE);
-            p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+            SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
+
             SCPacketSetLiveDevice(p, ptv->livedev);
             SCPacketSetReleaesPacket(p, AFXDPReleasePacket);
             p->flags |= PKT_IGNORE_CHECKSUM;
diff --git a/src/source-dpdk.c b/src/source-dpdk.c
index 6949a46964ca..22e1898dc981 100644
--- a/src/source-dpdk.c
+++ b/src/source-dpdk.c
@@ -413,7 +413,8 @@ static inline Packet *PacketInitFromMbuf(DPDKThreadVars *ptv, struct rte_mbuf *m
         return NULL;
     }
     PKT_SET_SRC(p, PKT_SRC_WIRE);
-    p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
+
     if (ptv->checksum_mode == CHECKSUM_VALIDATION_DISABLE) {
         p->flags |= PKT_IGNORE_CHECKSUM;
     }
diff --git a/src/source-erf-dag.c b/src/source-erf-dag.c
index f5e4239554b7..a3dd794a932d 100644
--- a/src/source-erf-dag.c
+++ b/src/source-erf-dag.c
@@ -495,7 +495,7 @@ ProcessErfDagRecord(ErfDagThreadVars *ewtn, char *prec)
     PKT_SET_SRC(p, PKT_SRC_WIRE);
 
     SET_PKT_LEN(p, wlen);
-    p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
 
     /* Take into account for link type Ethernet ETH frame starts
      * after the ERF header + pad.
diff --git a/src/source-erf-file.c b/src/source-erf-file.c
index 5253ab660a0f..c58e779de2b4 100644
--- a/src/source-erf-file.c
+++ b/src/source-erf-file.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "tm-threads.h"
 #include "source-erf-file.h"
 #include "util-datalink.h"
+#include "packet.h"
 
 #define DAG_TYPE_ETH 2
 
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ static inline TmEcode ReadErfRecord(ThreadVars *tv, Packet *p, void *data)
     }
 
     GET_PKT_LEN(p) = wlen;
-    p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
 
     /* Convert ERF time to SCTime_t */
     uint64_t ts = dr.ts;
diff --git a/src/source-ipfw.c b/src/source-ipfw.c
index cf1c9472a985..fb7106f83764 100644
--- a/src/source-ipfw.c
+++ b/src/source-ipfw.c
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ TmEcode ReceiveIPFWLoop(ThreadVars *tv, void *data, void *slot)
         ptv->pkts++;
         ptv->bytes += pktlen;
 
-        p->datalink = ptv->datalink;
+        SCPacketSetDatalink(p, ptv->datalink);
 
         p->ipfw_v.ipfw_index = ptv->ipfw_index;
 
diff --git a/src/source-napatech.c b/src/source-napatech.c
index bb260463b651..84a48b04b6a1 100644
--- a/src/source-napatech.c
+++ b/src/source-napatech.c
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ TmEcode NapatechPacketLoop(ThreadVars *tv, void *data, void *slot)
         SCPacketSetReleasePacket(p, NapatechReleasePacket);
         p->ntpv.nt_packet_buf = packet_buffer;
         p->ntpv.stream_id = ntv->stream_id;
-        p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+        SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
 
         if (unlikely(PacketSetData(p, (uint8_t *)NT_NET_GET_PKT_L2_PTR(packet_buffer), NT_NET_GET_PKT_WIRE_LENGTH(packet_buffer)))) {
             TmqhOutputPacketpool(ntv->tv, p);
diff --git a/src/source-netmap.c b/src/source-netmap.c
index b62acdee645b..4df933c2ed82 100644
--- a/src/source-netmap.c
+++ b/src/source-netmap.c
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ static void NetmapProcessPacket(NetmapThreadVars *ntv, const struct nm_pkthdr *p
 
     PKT_SET_SRC(p, PKT_SRC_WIRE);
     SCPacketSetLiveDevice(p, ntv->livedev);
-    p->datalink = LINKTYPE_ETHERNET;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, LINKTYPE_ETHERNET);
     p->ts = SCTIME_FROM_TIMEVAL(&ph->ts);
     ntv->pkts++;
     ntv->bytes += ph->len;
diff --git a/src/source-nflog.c b/src/source-nflog.c
index f7d3616c621d..6f458c921ba6 100644
--- a/src/source-nflog.c
+++ b/src/source-nflog.c
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ static int NFLOGCallback(struct nflog_g_handle *gh, struct nfgenmsg *msg,
     }
     p->ts = SCTIME_FROM_TIMEVAL(&tv);
 
-    p->datalink = DLT_RAW;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, DLT_RAW);
 
 #ifdef COUNTERS
     ntv->pkts++;
diff --git a/src/source-nfq.c b/src/source-nfq.c
index e79b7f80acbf..e954c5532600 100644
--- a/src/source-nfq.c
+++ b/src/source-nfq.c
@@ -477,7 +477,8 @@ static int NFQSetupPkt (Packet *p, struct nfq_q_handle *qh, void *data)
     }
     p->ts = SCTIME_FROM_TIMEVAL(&tv);
 
-    p->datalink = DLT_RAW;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, DLT_RAW);
+
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c b/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c
index 1c9f5933ba91..9fbe819ff5a8 100644
--- a/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c
+++ b/src/source-pcap-file-helper.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "util-profiling.h"
 #include "source-pcap-file.h"
 #include "util-exception-policy.h"
+#include "packet.h"
 
 extern uint32_t max_pending_packets;
 extern PcapFileGlobalVars pcap_g;
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ void PcapFileCallbackLoop(char *user, struct pcap_pkthdr *h, u_char *pkt)
     PKT_SET_SRC(p, PKT_SRC_WIRE);
     p->ts = SCTIME_FROM_TIMEVAL_UNTRUSTED(&h->ts);
     SCLogDebug("p->ts.tv_sec %" PRIuMAX "", (uintmax_t)SCTIME_SECS(p->ts));
-    p->datalink = ptv->datalink;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, ptv->datalink);
     p->pcap_cnt = ++pcap_g.cnt;
 
     p->pcap_v.tenant_id = ptv->shared->tenant_id;
diff --git a/src/source-pcap.c b/src/source-pcap.c
index b14f481e8b2f..e6f8f74a0140 100644
--- a/src/source-pcap.c
+++ b/src/source-pcap.c
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ static void PcapCallbackLoop(char *user, struct pcap_pkthdr *h, u_char *pkt)
     PKT_SET_SRC(p, PKT_SRC_WIRE);
     p->ts = SCTIME_FROM_TIMEVAL(&h->ts);
     SCLogDebug("p->ts.tv_sec %" PRIuMAX "", (uintmax_t)SCTIME_SECS(p->ts));
-    p->datalink = ptv->datalink;
+    SCPacketSetDatalink(p, ptv->datalink);
 
     ptv->pkts++;
     ptv->bytes += h->caplen;