diff --git a/mmpretrain/apis/image_retrieval.py b/mmpretrain/apis/image_retrieval.py
index deae1de7975..27919b20f58 100644
--- a/mmpretrain/apis/image_retrieval.py
+++ b/mmpretrain/apis/image_retrieval.py
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ def build_dataloader(dataset):
             # A config of dataset
             from mmpretrain.registry import DATASETS
             test_pipeline = [dict(type='LoadImageFromFile'), self.pipeline]
+            prototype.setdefault('pipeline', test_pipeline)
             dataset = DATASETS.build(prototype)
             dataloader = build_dataloader(dataset)
         elif isinstance(prototype, DataLoader):