diff --git a/packager/mpd/base/representation_unittest.cc b/packager/mpd/base/representation_unittest.cc
index d2656677ce..92cf52488f 100644
--- a/packager/mpd/base/representation_unittest.cc
+++ b/packager/mpd/base/representation_unittest.cc
@@ -458,7 +458,8 @@ class SegmentTemplateTest : public RepresentationTest {
         " codecs=\"avc1.010101\" mimeType=\"video/mp4\" sar=\"1:1\" "
         " width=\"720\" height=\"480\" frameRate=\"10/5\">\n"
         "  <SegmentTemplate timescale=\"1000\" "
-        "   initialization=\"init.mp4\" media=\"$Time$.mp4\">\n"
+        "   initialization=\"init.mp4\" media=\"$Time$.mp4\" "
+        "   startNumber=\"1\">\n"
         "    <SegmentTimeline>\n"
         "      %s\n"
         "    </SegmentTimeline>\n"
@@ -486,7 +487,7 @@ TEST_F(SegmentTemplateTest, OneSegmentNormal) {
       " codecs=\"avc1.010101\" mimeType=\"video/mp4\" sar=\"1:1\" "
       " width=\"720\" height=\"480\" frameRate=\"10/5\">\n"
       "  <SegmentTemplate timescale=\"1000\" "
-      "   initialization=\"init.mp4\" media=\"$Time$.mp4\">\n"
+      "   initialization=\"init.mp4\" media=\"$Time$.mp4\" startNumber=\"1\">\n"
       "    <SegmentTimeline>\n"
       "      <S t=\"0\" d=\"10\"/>\n"
       "    </SegmentTimeline>\n"
@@ -539,7 +540,7 @@ TEST_F(SegmentTemplateTest, PresentationTimeOffset) {
       " width=\"720\" height=\"480\" frameRate=\"10/5\">\n"
       // pto = kPresentationTimeOffsetSeconds * timescale + FLAGS_pto_adjustment
       "  <SegmentTemplate timescale=\"1000\" presentationTimeOffset=\"2299\""
-      "   initialization=\"init.mp4\" media=\"$Time$.mp4\">\n"
+      "   initialization=\"init.mp4\" media=\"$Time$.mp4\" startNumber=\"1\">\n"
       "    <SegmentTimeline>\n"
       "      <S t=\"0\" d=\"10\"/>\n"
       "    </SegmentTimeline>\n"
diff --git a/packager/mpd/base/xml/xml_node.cc b/packager/mpd/base/xml/xml_node.cc
index 2148c743e7..a7a947c13a 100644
--- a/packager/mpd/base/xml/xml_node.cc
+++ b/packager/mpd/base/xml/xml_node.cc
@@ -354,13 +354,7 @@ bool RepresentationXmlNode::AddLiveOnlyInfo(
 
   if (media_info.has_segment_template()) {
     segment_template.SetStringAttribute("media", media_info.segment_template());
-
-    // TODO(rkuroiwa): Need a better check. $$Number is legitimate but not a
-    // template.
-    if (media_info.segment_template().find("$Number") != std::string::npos) {
-      DCHECK_GE(start_number, 1u);
-      segment_template.SetIntegerAttribute("startNumber", start_number);
-    }
+    segment_template.SetIntegerAttribute("startNumber", start_number);
   }
 
   // TODO(rkuroiwa): Find out when a live MPD doesn't require SegmentTimeline.