diff --git a/dm/dm/worker/server.go b/dm/dm/worker/server.go
index cac9331fdf4..b3f9b0ce51e 100644
--- a/dm/dm/worker/server.go
+++ b/dm/dm/worker/server.go
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ func NewServer(cfg *Config) *Server {
 }
 
 // Start starts to serving.
+// this function should only exit when can't dail DM-master, for other errors it should not exit.
 func (s *Server) Start() error {
 	log.L().Info("starting dm-worker server")
 	RegistryMetrics()
diff --git a/dm/dm/worker/source_worker.go b/dm/dm/worker/source_worker.go
index 9ea3e9385cc..b9125c5c1b2 100644
--- a/dm/dm/worker/source_worker.go
+++ b/dm/dm/worker/source_worker.go
@@ -301,11 +301,11 @@ func (w *SourceWorker) EnableRelay() (err error) {
 	defer dcancel()
 	minLoc, err1 := getMinLocInAllSubTasks(dctx, subTaskCfgs)
 	if err1 != nil {
-		return err1
+		w.l.Error("meet error when EnableRelay", zap.Error(err1))
 	}
 
 	if minLoc != nil {
-		log.L().Info("get min location in all subtasks", zap.Stringer("location", *minLoc))
+		w.l.Info("get min location in all subtasks", zap.Stringer("location", *minLoc))
 		w.cfg.RelayBinLogName = binlog.AdjustPosition(minLoc.Position).Name
 		w.cfg.RelayBinlogGTID = minLoc.GTIDSetStr()
 		// set UUIDSuffix when bound to a source
diff --git a/dm/tests/new_relay/run.sh b/dm/tests/new_relay/run.sh
index 92e6b1053b8..1a30f297e7e 100755
--- a/dm/tests/new_relay/run.sh
+++ b/dm/tests/new_relay/run.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,46 @@ function test_cant_dail_upstream() {
 	cleanup_data $TEST_NAME
 }
 
+function test_cant_dail_downstream() {
+	cleanup_data $TEST_NAME
+	cleanup_process
+
+	run_dm_master $WORK_DIR/master $MASTER_PORT $cur/conf/dm-master.toml
+	check_rpc_alive $cur/../bin/check_master_online 127.0.0.1:$MASTER_PORT
+	run_dm_worker $WORK_DIR/worker1 $WORKER1_PORT $cur/conf/dm-worker1.toml
+	check_rpc_alive $cur/../bin/check_worker_online 127.0.0.1:$WORKER1_PORT
+
+	cp $cur/conf/source1.yaml $WORK_DIR/source1.yaml
+	dmctl_operate_source create $WORK_DIR/source1.yaml $SOURCE_ID1
+
+	run_dm_ctl_with_retry $WORK_DIR "127.0.0.1:$MASTER_PORT" \
+		"start-relay -s $SOURCE_ID1 worker1" \
+		"\"result\": true" 1
+	dmctl_start_task_standalone $cur/conf/dm-task.yaml "--remove-meta"
+
+	kill_dm_worker
+	# kill tidb
+	pkill -hup tidb-server 2>/dev/null || true
+	wait_process_exit tidb-server
+
+	run_dm_worker $WORK_DIR/worker1 $WORKER1_PORT $cur/conf/dm-worker1.toml
+	check_rpc_alive $cur/../bin/check_worker_online 127.0.0.1:$WORKER1_PORT
+
+	# make sure DM-worker doesn't exit
+	sleep 2
+	run_dm_ctl_with_retry $WORK_DIR "127.0.0.1:$MASTER_PORT" \
+		"query-status -s $SOURCE_ID1" \
+		"\"relayCatchUpMaster\": true" 1 \
+		"dial tcp 127.0.0.1:4000: connect: connection refused" 1
+
+	# restart tidb
+	run_tidb_server 4000 $TIDB_PASSWORD
+	sleep 2
+
+	cleanup_process
+	cleanup_data $TEST_NAME
+}
+
 function test_kill_dump_connection() {
 	cleanup_data $TEST_NAME
 	cleanup_process
@@ -83,6 +123,7 @@ function test_kill_dump_connection() {
 }
 
 function run() {
+	test_cant_dail_downstream
 	test_cant_dail_upstream
 
 	export GO_FAILPOINTS="github.com/pingcap/tiflow/dm/relay/ReportRelayLogSpaceInBackground=return(1)"