diff --git a/Framework/Core/src/ExternalFairMQDeviceProxy.cxx b/Framework/Core/src/ExternalFairMQDeviceProxy.cxx
index 449beb0cb8c0b..e67e484f7faf5 100644
--- a/Framework/Core/src/ExternalFairMQDeviceProxy.cxx
+++ b/Framework/Core/src/ExternalFairMQDeviceProxy.cxx
@@ -397,6 +397,11 @@ void injectMissingData(fair::mq::Device& device, fair::mq::Parts& parts, std::ve
     }
     std::string missing = "";
     bool showAlarm = false;
+    uint32_t runNumber = 0;
+    try {
+      runNumber = strtoul(device.fConfig->GetProperty<std::string>("runNumber", "").c_str(), nullptr, 10);
+    } catch (...) {
+    }
     for (auto mi : unmatchedDescriptions) {
       auto& spec = routes[mi].matcher;
       missing += " " + DataSpecUtils::describe(spec);
@@ -412,6 +417,7 @@ void injectMissingData(fair::mq::Device& device, fair::mq::Parts& parts, std::ve
       dh.dataDescription = concrete.description;
       dh.subSpecification = *subSpec;
       dh.payloadSize = 0;
+      dh.runNumber = runNumber;
       dh.splitPayloadParts = 0;
       dh.splitPayloadIndex = 0;
       dh.payloadSerializationMethod = header::gSerializationMethodNone;
@@ -504,7 +510,8 @@ InjectorFunction dplModelAdaptor(std::vector<OutputSpec> const& filterSpecs, DPL
         LOG(error) << "unexpected nullptr found. Skipping message pair.";
         continue;
       }
-      const auto dh = o2::header::get<DataHeader*>(parts.At(msgidx)->GetData());
+      auto* header = parts.At(msgidx)->GetData();
+      const auto dh = o2::header::get<DataHeader*>(header);
       if (!dh) {
         LOG(error) << "data on input " << msgidx << " does not follow the O2 data model, DataHeader missing";
         if (msgidx > 0) {
@@ -512,7 +519,7 @@ InjectorFunction dplModelAdaptor(std::vector<OutputSpec> const& filterSpecs, DPL
         }
         continue;
       }
-      auto dph = o2::header::get<DataProcessingHeader*>(parts.At(msgidx)->GetData());
+      auto dph = o2::header::get<DataProcessingHeader*>(header);
       if (!dph) {
         LOG(error) << "data on input " << msgidx << " does not follow the O2 data model, DataProcessingHeader missing";
         continue;
@@ -527,7 +534,7 @@ InjectorFunction dplModelAdaptor(std::vector<OutputSpec> const& filterSpecs, DPL
       timingInfo.runNumber = dh->runNumber;
       timingInfo.tfCounter = dh->tfCounter;
       LOG(debug) << msgidx << ": " << DataSpecUtils::describe(OutputSpec{dh->dataOrigin, dh->dataDescription, dh->subSpecification}) << " part " << dh->splitPayloadIndex << " of " << dh->splitPayloadParts << "  payload " << parts.At(msgidx + 1)->GetSize();
-      if (dh->runNumber == 0 || dh->tfCounter == 0 || (fmqRunNumber > 0 && fmqRunNumber != dh->runNumber)) {
+      if (dh->runNumber == 0 || (dh->tfCounter == 0 && o2::header::get<SourceInfoHeader*>(header) == nullptr) || (fmqRunNumber > 0 && fmqRunNumber != dh->runNumber)) {
         LOG(error) << "INVALID runNumber / tfCounter: runNumber " << dh->runNumber
                    << ", tfCounter " << dh->tfCounter << ", FMQ runNumber " << fmqRunNumber
                    << " for msgidx " << msgidx << ": " << DataSpecUtils::describe(OutputSpec{dh->dataOrigin, dh->dataDescription, dh->subSpecification}) << " part " << dh->splitPayloadIndex << " of " << dh->splitPayloadParts << "  payload " << parts.At(msgidx + 1)->GetSize();
@@ -623,6 +630,11 @@ InjectorFunction incrementalConverter(OutputSpec const& spec, o2::header::Serial
   auto timesliceId = std::make_shared<size_t>(startTime);
   return [timesliceId, spec, step, method](TimingInfo&, ServiceRegistryRef const& services, fair::mq::Parts& parts, ChannelRetriever channelRetriever, size_t newTimesliceId, bool&) {
     auto* device = services.get<RawDeviceService>().device();
+    uint32_t runNumber = 0;
+    try {
+      runNumber = strtoul(device->fConfig->GetProperty<std::string>("runNumber", "").c_str(), nullptr, 10);
+    } catch (...) {
+    }
     // We iterate on all the parts and we send them two by two,
     // adding the appropriate O2 header.
     for (int i = 0; i < parts.Size(); ++i) {
@@ -635,6 +647,7 @@ InjectorFunction incrementalConverter(OutputSpec const& spec, o2::header::Serial
       dh.dataDescription = matcher.description;
       dh.subSpecification = matcher.subSpec;
       dh.payloadSize = parts.At(i)->GetSize();
+      dh.runNumber = runNumber;
 
       DataProcessingHeader dph{newTimesliceId, 0};
       if (*timesliceId != newTimesliceId) {
@@ -977,11 +990,18 @@ DataProcessorSpec specifyFairMQDeviceOutputProxy(char const* name,
         if (channelName != outputChannelName) {
           continue;
         }
+
+        uint32_t runNumber = 0;
+        try {
+          runNumber = strtoul(device->fConfig->GetProperty<std::string>("runNumber", "").c_str(), nullptr, 10);
+        } catch (...) {
+        }
         DataHeader dh;
         dh.dataOrigin = "DPL";
         dh.dataDescription = "EOS";
         dh.subSpecification = 0;
         dh.payloadSize = 0;
+        dh.runNumber = runNumber;
         dh.payloadSerializationMethod = o2::header::gSerializationMethodNone;
         dh.tfCounter = 0;
         dh.firstTForbit = 0;
@@ -1091,12 +1111,18 @@ DataProcessorSpec specifyFairMQDeviceMultiOutputProxy(char const* name,
         if (!checkChannel(channelName)) {
           continue;
         }
+        uint32_t runNumber = 0;
+        try {
+          runNumber = strtoul(device->fConfig->GetProperty<std::string>("runNumber", "").c_str(), nullptr, 10);
+        } catch (...) {
+        }
         DataHeader dh;
         dh.dataOrigin = "DPL";
         dh.dataDescription = "EOS";
         dh.subSpecification = 0;
         dh.payloadSize = 0;
         dh.payloadSerializationMethod = o2::header::gSerializationMethodNone;
+        dh.runNumber = runNumber;
         dh.tfCounter = 0;
         dh.firstTForbit = 0;
         SourceInfoHeader sih;