diff --git a/store/tikv/backoff.go b/store/tikv/backoff.go
index 48c993bdc58b0..ceecdc5a5884d 100644
--- a/store/tikv/backoff.go
+++ b/store/tikv/backoff.go
@@ -44,15 +44,14 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
-	tikvBackoffHistogramRPC          = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("tikvRPC")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramLock         = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("txnLock")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramLockFast     = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("tikvLockFast")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramPD           = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("pdRPC")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramRegionMiss   = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("regionMiss")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramUpdateLeader = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("updateLeader")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramServerBusy   = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("serverBusy")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramStaleCmd     = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("staleCommand")
-	tikvBackoffHistogramEmpty        = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramRPC        = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("tikvRPC")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramLock       = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("txnLock")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramLockFast   = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("tikvLockFast")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramPD         = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("pdRPC")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramRegionMiss = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("regionMiss")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramServerBusy = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("serverBusy")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramStaleCmd   = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("staleCommand")
+	tikvBackoffHistogramEmpty      = metrics.TiKVBackoffHistogram.WithLabelValues("")
 )
 
 func (t backoffType) metric() prometheus.Observer {
@@ -67,8 +66,6 @@ func (t backoffType) metric() prometheus.Observer {
 		return tikvBackoffHistogramPD
 	case BoRegionMiss:
 		return tikvBackoffHistogramRegionMiss
-	case BoUpdateLeader:
-		return tikvBackoffHistogramUpdateLeader
 	case boServerBusy:
 		return tikvBackoffHistogramServerBusy
 	case boStaleCmd:
@@ -134,7 +131,6 @@ const (
 	boTxnLockFast
 	BoPDRPC
 	BoRegionMiss
-	BoUpdateLeader
 	boServerBusy
 	boTxnNotFound
 	boStaleCmd
@@ -158,8 +154,6 @@ func (t backoffType) createFn(vars *kv.Variables) func(context.Context, int) int
 		return NewBackoffFn(2, 500, NoJitter)
 	case boTxnNotFound:
 		return NewBackoffFn(2, 500, NoJitter)
-	case BoUpdateLeader:
-		return NewBackoffFn(1, 10, NoJitter)
 	case boServerBusy:
 		return NewBackoffFn(2000, 10000, EqualJitter)
 	case boStaleCmd:
@@ -180,8 +174,6 @@ func (t backoffType) String() string {
 		return "pdRPC"
 	case BoRegionMiss:
 		return "regionMiss"
-	case BoUpdateLeader:
-		return "updateLeader"
 	case boServerBusy:
 		return "serverBusy"
 	case boStaleCmd:
@@ -200,7 +192,7 @@ func (t backoffType) TError() error {
 		return ErrResolveLockTimeout
 	case BoPDRPC:
 		return ErrPDServerTimeout
-	case BoRegionMiss, BoUpdateLeader:
+	case BoRegionMiss:
 		return ErrRegionUnavailable
 	case boServerBusy:
 		return ErrTiKVServerBusy
diff --git a/store/tikv/region_request.go b/store/tikv/region_request.go
index 7c60908c0e9ee..89ea74a582bd1 100644
--- a/store/tikv/region_request.go
+++ b/store/tikv/region_request.go
@@ -351,17 +351,14 @@ func (s *RegionRequestSender) onRegionError(bo *Backoffer, ctx *RPCContext, seed
 		logutil.BgLogger().Debug("tikv reports `NotLeader` retry later",
 			zap.String("notLeader", notLeader.String()),
 			zap.String("ctx", ctx.String()))
-		s.regionCache.UpdateLeader(ctx.Region, notLeader.GetLeader().GetStoreId(), ctx.PeerIdx)
 
-		var boType backoffType
-		if notLeader.GetLeader() != nil {
-			boType = BoUpdateLeader
+		if notLeader.GetLeader() == nil {
+			if err = bo.Backoff(BoRegionMiss, errors.Errorf("not leader: %v, ctx: %v", notLeader, ctx)); err != nil {
+				return false, errors.Trace(err)
+			}
 		} else {
-			boType = BoRegionMiss
-		}
-
-		if err = bo.Backoff(boType, errors.Errorf("not leader: %v, ctx: %v", notLeader, ctx)); err != nil {
-			return false, errors.Trace(err)
+			// don't backoff if a new leader is returned.
+			s.regionCache.UpdateLeader(ctx.Region, notLeader.GetLeader().GetStoreId(), ctx.PeerIdx)
 		}
 
 		return true, nil