diff --git a/src/wifi/helper/wifi-mac-helper.cc b/src/wifi/helper/wifi-mac-helper.cc
index 4f81f5b92..da6648ba8 100644
--- a/src/wifi/helper/wifi-mac-helper.cc
+++ b/src/wifi/helper/wifi-mac-helper.cc
@@ -149,11 +149,11 @@ WifiMacHelper::Create(Ptr<WifiNetDevice> device, WifiStandard standard) const
         staMac->SetAssocManager(assocManager);
     }
 
-    // create and install the EMLSR Manager if this is an EHT non-AP MLD with EMLSR activated
-    if (BooleanValue emlsrActivated;
-        standard >= WIFI_STANDARD_80211be && staMac && staMac->GetNLinks() > 1 &&
-        device->GetEhtConfiguration()->GetAttributeFailSafe("EmlsrActivated", emlsrActivated) &&
-        emlsrActivated.Get())
+    // create and install the EMLSR Manager if this is an EHT non-AP device with EMLSR activated
+    // and association type set to ML setup
+    if (standard >= WIFI_STANDARD_80211be && staMac &&
+        device->GetEhtConfiguration()->m_emlsrActivated &&
+        staMac->GetAssocType() == WifiAssocType::ML_SETUP)
     {
         auto emlsrManager = m_emlsrManager.Create<EmlsrManager>();
         staMac->SetEmlsrManager(emlsrManager);
diff --git a/src/wifi/model/eht/emlsr-manager.cc b/src/wifi/model/eht/emlsr-manager.cc
index b27a97f3c..efcb951f4 100644
--- a/src/wifi/model/eht/emlsr-manager.cc
+++ b/src/wifi/model/eht/emlsr-manager.cc
@@ -184,7 +184,8 @@ EmlsrManager::SetWifiMac(Ptr<StaWifiMac> mac)
     m_staMac = mac;
 
     NS_ABORT_MSG_IF(!m_staMac->GetEhtConfiguration(), "EmlsrManager requires EHT support");
-    NS_ABORT_MSG_IF(m_staMac->GetNLinks() <= 1, "EmlsrManager can only be installed on MLDs");
+    NS_ABORT_MSG_IF(!m_staMac->GetEhtConfiguration()->m_emlsrActivated,
+                    "EmlsrManager requires EMLSR to be activated");
     NS_ABORT_MSG_IF(m_staMac->GetTypeOfStation() != STA,
                     "EmlsrManager can only be installed on non-AP MLDs");