diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag.go b/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag.go
index 16f39fc4fce..52f607c8d51 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag.go
@@ -126,9 +126,8 @@ func linkPipelineTasks(prev *Node, next *Node) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cycle detected; task %q depends on itself", next.Task.HashKey())
 	}
 	// Check if we are adding cycles.
-	visited := map[string]bool{prev.Task.HashKey(): true, next.Task.HashKey(): true}
 	path := []string{next.Task.HashKey(), prev.Task.HashKey()}
-	if err := visit(next.Task.HashKey(), prev.Prev, path, visited); err != nil {
+	if err := lookForNode(prev.Prev, path, next.Task.HashKey()); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cycle detected: %w", err)
 	}
 	next.Prev = append(next.Prev, prev)
@@ -136,18 +135,13 @@ func linkPipelineTasks(prev *Node, next *Node) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func visit(currentName string, nodes []*Node, path []string, visited map[string]bool) error {
-	var sb strings.Builder
+func lookForNode(nodes []*Node, path []string, next string) error {
 	for _, n := range nodes {
 		path = append(path, n.Task.HashKey())
-		if _, ok := visited[n.Task.HashKey()]; ok {
+		if n.Task.HashKey() == next {
 			return errors.New(getVisitedPath(path))
 		}
-		sb.WriteString(currentName)
-		sb.WriteByte('.')
-		sb.WriteString(n.Task.HashKey())
-		visited[sb.String()] = true
-		if err := visit(n.Task.HashKey(), n.Prev, path, visited); err != nil {
+		if err := lookForNode(n.Prev, path, next); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag_test.go b/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag_test.go
index 14ee4f69a1b..0eed7963ce5 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag_test.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/dag/dag_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package dag_test
 
 import (
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
@@ -479,7 +480,7 @@ func TestBuild_ConditionsParamsFromTaskResults(t *testing.T) {
 	assertSameDAG(t, expectedDAG, g)
 }
 
-func TestBuild_Invalid(t *testing.T) {
+func TestBuild_InvalidDAG(t *testing.T) {
 	a := v1beta1.PipelineTask{Name: "a"}
 	xDependsOnA := v1beta1.PipelineTask{
 		Name: "x",
@@ -539,37 +540,114 @@ func TestBuild_Invalid(t *testing.T) {
 			Resources:    []v1beta1.PipelineTaskInputResource{{From: []string{"none"}}},
 		}},
 	}
+	aRunsAfterE := v1beta1.PipelineTask{Name: "a", RunAfter: []string{"e"}}
+	bDependsOnA := v1beta1.PipelineTask{
+		Name: "b",
+		Resources: &v1beta1.PipelineTaskResources{
+			Inputs: []v1beta1.PipelineTaskInputResource{{From: []string{"a"}}},
+		},
+	}
+	cRunsAfterA := v1beta1.PipelineTask{
+		Name:     "c",
+		RunAfter: []string{"a"},
+	}
+	dDependsOnBAndC := v1beta1.PipelineTask{
+		Name: "d",
+		Resources: &v1beta1.PipelineTaskResources{
+			Inputs: []v1beta1.PipelineTaskInputResource{{From: []string{"b", "c"}}},
+		},
+	}
+	eRunsAfterD := v1beta1.PipelineTask{
+		Name:     "e",
+		RunAfter: []string{"d"},
+	}
+	fRunsAfterD := v1beta1.PipelineTask{
+		Name:     "f",
+		RunAfter: []string{"d"},
+	}
+	gDependsOnF := v1beta1.PipelineTask{
+		Name: "g",
+		Resources: &v1beta1.PipelineTaskResources{
+			Inputs: []v1beta1.PipelineTaskInputResource{{From: []string{"f"}}},
+		},
+	}
 
 	tcs := []struct {
 		name string
 		spec v1beta1.PipelineSpec
+		err  string
 	}{{
+		// a
+		// |
+		// a ("a" depends on resource from "a")
 		name: "self-link-from",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{selfLinkFrom}},
+		err:  "cycle detected",
 	}, {
+		// a
+		// |
+		// a ("a" runAfter "a")
 		name: "self-link-after",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{selfLinkAfter}},
+		err:  "cycle detected",
 	}, {
+		// a (also "a" depends on resource from "z")
+		// |
+		// x ("x" depends on resource from "a")
+		// |
+		// z ("z" depends on resource from "x")
 		name: "cycle-from",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{xDependsOnA, zDependsOnX, aDependsOnZ}},
+		err:  "cycle detected",
 	}, {
+		// a (also "a" runAfter "z")
+		// |
+		// x ("x" runAfter "a")
+		// |
+		// z ("z" runAfter "x")
 		name: "cycle-runAfter",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{xAfterA, zAfterX, aAfterZ}},
+		err:  "cycle detected",
 	}, {
+		// a (also "a" depends on resource from "z")
+		// |
+		// x ("x" depends on resource from "a")
+		// |
+		// z ("z" runAfter "x")
 		name: "cycle-both",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{xDependsOnA, zAfterX, aDependsOnZ}},
+		err:  "cycle detected",
+	}, {
+		// This test make sure we detect a cyclic branch in a DAG with multiple branches.
+		// The following DAG is having a cyclic branch with an additional dependency (a runAfter e)
+		//   a
+		//  / \
+		// b   c
+		//  \ /
+		//   d
+		//  / \
+		// e   f
+		//     |
+		//     g
+		name: "multiple-branches-with-one-cyclic-branch",
+		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{aRunsAfterE, bDependsOnA, cRunsAfterA, dDependsOnBAndC, eRunsAfterD, fRunsAfterD, gDependsOnF}},
+		err:  "cycle detected",
 	}, {
 		name: "duplicate-tasks",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{a, a}},
+		err:  "duplicate pipeline task",
 	}, {
 		name: "invalid-task-name-from",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{invalidTaskFrom}},
+		err:  "wasn't present in Pipeline",
 	}, {
 		name: "invalid-task-name-after",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{invalidTaskAfter}},
+		err:  "wasn't present in Pipeline",
 	}, {
 		name: "invalid-task-name-from-conditional",
 		spec: v1beta1.PipelineSpec{Tasks: []v1beta1.PipelineTask{invalidConditionalTask}},
+		err:  "wasn't present in Pipeline",
 	},
 	}
 	for _, tc := range tcs {
@@ -578,7 +656,8 @@ func TestBuild_Invalid(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: tc.name},
 				Spec:       tc.spec,
 			}
-			if _, err := dag.Build(v1beta1.PipelineTaskList(p.Spec.Tasks)); err == nil {
+			_, err := dag.Build(v1beta1.PipelineTaskList(p.Spec.Tasks))
+			if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), tc.err) {
 				t.Errorf("expected to see an error for invalid DAG in pipeline %v but had none", tc.spec)
 			}
 		})