diff --git a/Packet++/header/NullLoopbackLayer.h b/Packet++/header/NullLoopbackLayer.h
index 0903781771..6c0e2ec261 100644
--- a/Packet++/header/NullLoopbackLayer.h
+++ b/Packet++/header/NullLoopbackLayer.h
@@ -78,5 +78,14 @@ namespace pcpp
 		{
 			return OsiModelDataLinkLayer;
 		}
+
+		/// @brief Check if the data passes minimal validity checks for Null/Loopback layer
+		/// @param data A pointer to the data
+		/// @param dataLen Size of the data in bytes
+		/// @return True if the data can represent a valid Null/Loopback layer, false otherwise
+		bool static isDataValid(const uint8_t* data, size_t dataLen)
+		{
+			return data != nullptr && dataLen >= sizeof(uint32_t);
+		}
 	};
 }  // namespace pcpp
diff --git a/Packet++/src/Packet.cpp b/Packet++/src/Packet.cpp
index a60ea2ce78..6826bac736 100644
--- a/Packet++/src/Packet.cpp
+++ b/Packet++/src/Packet.cpp
@@ -739,87 +739,90 @@ namespace pcpp
 
 		const uint8_t* rawData = m_RawPacket->getRawData();
 
-		if (linkType == LINKTYPE_ETHERNET)
+		switch (linkType)
+		{
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_ETHERNET:
 		{
 			if (EthLayer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
 			{
 				return new EthLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
 			}
-			else if (EthDot3Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
+			if (EthDot3Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
 			{
 				return new EthDot3Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
 			}
-			else
-			{
-				return new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this);
-			}
+			break;
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_LINUX_SLL)
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_LINUX_SLL:
 		{
 			return new SllLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_LINUX_SLL2 && Sll2Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_LINUX_SLL2:
 		{
-			return new Sll2Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
+			if (Sll2Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
+			{
+				return new Sll2Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
+			}
+			break;
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_NULL)
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_NULL:
 		{
-			if (rawDataLen >= sizeof(uint32_t))
+			if (NullLoopbackLayer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
+			{
 				return new NullLoopbackLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
-			else  // rawDataLen is too small fir Null/Loopback
-				return new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this);
+			}
+			break;
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_RAW || linkType == LINKTYPE_DLT_RAW1 || linkType == LINKTYPE_DLT_RAW2)
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_RAW:
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_DLT_RAW1:
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_DLT_RAW2:
 		{
 			uint8_t ipVer = rawData[0] & 0xf0;
-			if (ipVer == 0x40)
+			if (ipVer == 0x40 && IPv4Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
 			{
-				return IPv4Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen)
-				           ? static_cast<Layer*>(
-				                 new IPv4Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this))
-				           : static_cast<Layer*>(
-				                 new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this));
+				return new IPv4Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this);
 			}
-			else if (ipVer == 0x60)
+			if (ipVer == 0x60 && IPv6Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
 			{
-				return IPv6Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen)
-				           ? static_cast<Layer*>(
-				                 new IPv6Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this))
-				           : static_cast<Layer*>(
-				                 new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this));
+				return new IPv6Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this);
 			}
-			else
+			break;
+		}
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_IPV4:
+		{
+			if (IPv4Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
 			{
-				return new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this);
+				return new IPv4Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this);
 			}
+			break;
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_IPV4)
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_IPV6:
 		{
-			return IPv4Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen)
-			           ? static_cast<Layer*>(new IPv4Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this))
-			           : static_cast<Layer*>(
-			                 new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this));
+			if (IPv6Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
+			{
+				return new IPv6Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this);
+			}
+			break;
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_IPV6)
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_NFLOG:
 		{
-			return IPv6Layer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen)
-			           ? static_cast<Layer*>(new IPv6Layer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this))
-			           : static_cast<Layer*>(
-			                 new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this));
+			if (NflogLayer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
+			{
+				return new NflogLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
+			}
+			break;
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_NFLOG)
+		case LinkLayerType::LINKTYPE_C_HDLC:
 		{
-			return NflogLayer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen)
-			           ? static_cast<Layer*>(new NflogLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this))
-			           : static_cast<Layer*>(
-			                 new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this));
+			if (CiscoHdlcLayer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen))
+			{
+				return new CiscoHdlcLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this);
+			}
+			break;
 		}
-		else if (linkType == LINKTYPE_C_HDLC)
-		{
-			return CiscoHdlcLayer::isDataValid(rawData, rawDataLen)
-			           ? static_cast<Layer*>(new CiscoHdlcLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, this))
-			           : static_cast<Layer*>(
-			                 new PayloadLayer(const_cast<uint8_t*>(rawData), rawDataLen, nullptr, this));
+		default:
+			// For all other link types, we don't have a specific layer. Just break and create a PayloadLayer
+			break;
 		}
 
 		// unknown link type