diff --git a/cmd/tidb-dashboard/main.go b/cmd/tidb-dashboard/main.go
index d20f417fb2..f0be488058 100644
--- a/cmd/tidb-dashboard/main.go
+++ b/cmd/tidb-dashboard/main.go
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ import (
 	keyvisualregion "github.com/pingcap/tidb-dashboard/pkg/keyvisual/region"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-dashboard/pkg/swaggerserver"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-dashboard/pkg/uiserver"
-	_ "github.com/pingcap/tidb-dashboard/pkg/utils/distro/populate"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-dashboard/pkg/utils/version"
 )
 
diff --git a/pkg/utils/distro/distro.go b/pkg/utils/distro/distro.go
index 4404a6e43d..8181fe72ee 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/distro/distro.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/distro/distro.go
@@ -27,7 +27,16 @@ func Replace(distro introData) {
 }
 
 func Data(k string) string {
-	d := data.Load().(introData)
+	var d introData
+	atomd := data.Load()
+	// we need a fallback to keep compatibility in scenarios without inject distro info
+	// related issue: https://github.com/pingcap/tidb-dashboard/issues/975
+	if d == nil {
+		d = Resource
+	} else {
+		d = atomd.(introData)
+	}
+
 	if d[k] == "" {
 		return k
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/utils/distro/populate/populate.go b/pkg/utils/distro/populate/populate.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 6c76cf84c0..0000000000
--- a/pkg/utils/distro/populate/populate.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2021 PingCAP, Inc.
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-package populate
-
-import "github.com/pingcap/tidb-dashboard/pkg/utils/distro"
-
-func init() {
-	distro.Replace(distro.Resource)
-}