diff --git a/internal/locate/region_request.go b/internal/locate/region_request.go
index 7d2aaf82e..9c9e613e0 100644
--- a/internal/locate/region_request.go
+++ b/internal/locate/region_request.go
@@ -1679,8 +1679,8 @@ func (s *RegionRequestSender) sendReqToRegion(
 	if !injectFailOnSend {
 		start := time.Now()
 		resp, err = s.client.SendRequest(ctx, sendToAddr, req, timeout)
-		// Record timecost of external requests on related Store when ReplicaReadMode == PreferLeader.
-		if req.ReplicaReadType == kv.ReplicaReadPreferLeader && !util.IsInternalRequest(req.RequestSource) {
+		// Record timecost of external requests on related Store when `ReplicaReadMode == "PreferLeader"`.
+		if rpcCtx.Store != nil && req.ReplicaReadType == kv.ReplicaReadPreferLeader && !util.IsInternalRequest(req.RequestSource) {
 			rpcCtx.Store.recordSlowScoreStat(time.Since(start))
 		}
 		if s.Stats != nil {