diff --git a/sound/soc/intel/boards/sof_sdw.c b/sound/soc/intel/boards/sof_sdw.c
index 2c8effd052b94b..578d72819fca7c 100644
--- a/sound/soc/intel/boards/sof_sdw.c
+++ b/sound/soc/intel/boards/sof_sdw.c
@@ -1219,7 +1219,7 @@ static int create_echoref_dailink(struct snd_soc_card *card,
 	 * fe <-> be connection for loopback capture for echo reference
 	 */
 	ret = asoc_sdw_init_simple_dai_link(dev, *dai_links, be_id, name,
-					    0, 1, "snd-soc-dummy-dai", "dummy",
+					    0, 1, "Loopback Virtual Pin", "dummy",
 					    snd_soc_dummy_dlc.name, snd_soc_dummy_dlc.dai_name,
 					    1, NULL, NULL);
 	if (ret)
diff --git a/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-dai.c b/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-dai.c
index 883d0d3bae9ec2..15faedeec16d78 100644
--- a/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-dai.c
+++ b/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-dai.c
@@ -70,12 +70,22 @@ static const struct hda_dai_widget_dma_ops *
 hda_dai_get_ops(struct snd_pcm_substream *substream, struct snd_soc_dai *cpu_dai)
 {
 	struct snd_soc_dapm_widget *w = snd_soc_dai_get_widget(cpu_dai, substream->stream);
-	struct snd_sof_widget *swidget = w->dobj.private;
+	struct snd_sof_widget *swidget;
 	struct snd_sof_dev *sdev;
 	struct snd_sof_dai *sdai;
 
-	sdev = widget_to_sdev(w);
+	/*
+	 * this is unlikely if the topology and the machine driver DAI links match.
+	 * But if there's a missing DAI link in topology, this will prevent a NULL pointer
+	 * dereference later on.
+	 */
+	if (!w) {
+		dev_err(cpu_dai->dev, "%s: widget is NULL\n", __func__);
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
+	sdev = widget_to_sdev(w);
+	swidget = w->dobj.private;
 	if (!swidget) {
 		dev_err(sdev->dev, "%s: swidget is NULL\n", __func__);
 		return NULL;
@@ -856,6 +866,14 @@ struct snd_soc_dai_driver skl_dai[] = {
 		.channels_max = 4,
 	},
 },
+{
+	/* Virtual CPU DAI for Echo reference */
+	.name = "Loopback Virtual Pin",
+	.capture = {
+		.channels_min = 1,
+		.channels_max = 2,
+	},
+},
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SND_SOC_SOF_HDA_AUDIO_CODEC)
 {
 	.name = "iDisp1 Pin",
diff --git a/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda.h b/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda.h
index 3fe00c269114ad..3f0966477ace21 100644
--- a/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda.h
+++ b/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda.h
@@ -418,10 +418,10 @@
 	(HDA_DSP_BDL_SIZE / sizeof(struct sof_intel_dsp_bdl))
 
 /* Number of DAIs */
-#define SOF_SKL_NUM_DAIS_NOCODEC	8
+#define SOF_SKL_NUM_DAIS_NOCODEC	9
 
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SND_SOC_SOF_HDA_AUDIO_CODEC)
-#define SOF_SKL_NUM_DAIS		15
+#define SOF_SKL_NUM_DAIS		16
 #else
 #define SOF_SKL_NUM_DAIS		SOF_SKL_NUM_DAIS_NOCODEC
 #endif