diff --git a/pkg/backup/client.go b/pkg/backup/client.go
index 15be96bf4..13236388b 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/client.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/client.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/util/ranger"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
+	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/conn"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/rtree"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/storage"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/summary"
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ func (bc *Client) BackupRange(
 	defer cancel()
 
 	var allStores []*metapb.Store
-	allStores, err = bc.mgr.GetPDClient().GetAllStores(ctx, pd.WithExcludeTombstone())
+	allStores, err = conn.GetAllTiKVStores(ctx, bc.mgr.GetPDClient(), conn.SkipTiFlash)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Trace(err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/conn/conn.go b/pkg/conn/conn.go
index 66c68dc49..cdfc78168 100644
--- a/pkg/conn/conn.go
+++ b/pkg/conn/conn.go
@@ -92,6 +92,51 @@ func pdRequest(
 	return r, nil
 }
 
+// UnexpectedStoreBehavior is the action to do in GetAllTiKVStores when a
+// non-TiKV store (e.g. TiFlash store) is found.
+type UnexpectedStoreBehavior uint8
+
+const (
+	// ErrorOnTiFlash causes GetAllTiKVStores to return error when the store is
+	// found to be a TiFlash node.
+	ErrorOnTiFlash UnexpectedStoreBehavior = 0
+	// SkipTiFlash causes GetAllTiKVStores to skip the store when it is found to
+	// be a TiFlash node.
+	SkipTiFlash UnexpectedStoreBehavior = 1
+)
+
+// GetAllTiKVStores returns all TiKV stores registered to the PD client. The
+// stores must not be a tombstone and must never contain a label `engine=tiflash`.
+func GetAllTiKVStores(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	pdClient pd.Client,
+	unexpectedStoreBehavior UnexpectedStoreBehavior,
+) ([]*metapb.Store, error) {
+	// get all live stores.
+	stores, err := pdClient.GetAllStores(ctx, pd.WithExcludeTombstone())
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// filter out all stores which are TiFlash.
+	j := 0
+skipStore:
+	for _, store := range stores {
+		for _, label := range store.Labels {
+			if label.Key == "engine" && label.Value == "tiflash" {
+				if unexpectedStoreBehavior == SkipTiFlash {
+					continue skipStore
+				}
+				return nil, errors.Errorf(
+					"cannot restore to a cluster with active TiFlash stores (store %d at %s)", store.Id, store.Address)
+			}
+		}
+		stores[j] = store
+		j++
+	}
+	return stores[:j], nil
+}
+
 // NewMgr creates a new Mgr.
 func NewMgr(
 	ctx context.Context,
@@ -99,7 +144,9 @@ func NewMgr(
 	pdAddrs string,
 	storage tikv.Storage,
 	tlsConf *tls.Config,
-	securityOption pd.SecurityOption) (*Mgr, error) {
+	securityOption pd.SecurityOption,
+	unexpectedStoreBehavior UnexpectedStoreBehavior,
+) (*Mgr, error) {
 	addrs := strings.Split(pdAddrs, ",")
 
 	failure := errors.Errorf("pd address (%s) has wrong format", pdAddrs)
@@ -143,7 +190,7 @@ func NewMgr(
 	log.Info("new mgr", zap.String("pdAddrs", pdAddrs))
 
 	// Check live tikv.
-	stores, err := pdClient.GetAllStores(ctx, pd.WithExcludeTombstone())
+	stores, err := GetAllTiKVStores(ctx, pdClient, unexpectedStoreBehavior)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error("fail to get store", zap.Error(err))
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/pkg/conn/conn_test.go b/pkg/conn/conn_test.go
index 9cbb963e7..572798e23 100644
--- a/pkg/conn/conn_test.go
+++ b/pkg/conn/conn_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	. "github.com/pingcap/check"
 	"github.com/pingcap/errors"
 	"github.com/pingcap/kvproto/pkg/metapb"
+	pd "github.com/pingcap/pd/v4/client"
 	"github.com/pingcap/pd/v4/server/core"
 	"github.com/pingcap/pd/v4/server/statistics"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/util/codec"
@@ -149,3 +150,90 @@ func (s *testClientSuite) TestRegionCount(c *C) {
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	c.Assert(resp, Equals, 2)
 }
+
+type fakePDClient struct {
+	pd.Client
+	stores []*metapb.Store
+}
+
+func (fpdc fakePDClient) GetAllStores(context.Context, ...pd.GetStoreOption) ([]*metapb.Store, error) {
+	return append([]*metapb.Store{}, fpdc.stores...), nil
+}
+
+func (s *testClientSuite) TestGetAllTiKVStores(c *C) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		stores                  []*metapb.Store
+		unexpectedStoreBehavior UnexpectedStoreBehavior
+		expectedStores          map[uint64]int
+		expectedError           string
+	}{
+		{
+			stores: []*metapb.Store{
+				{Id: 1},
+			},
+			unexpectedStoreBehavior: SkipTiFlash,
+			expectedStores:          map[uint64]int{1: 1},
+		},
+		{
+			stores: []*metapb.Store{
+				{Id: 1},
+			},
+			unexpectedStoreBehavior: ErrorOnTiFlash,
+			expectedStores:          map[uint64]int{1: 1},
+		},
+		{
+			stores: []*metapb.Store{
+				{Id: 1},
+				{Id: 2, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "engine", Value: "tiflash"}}},
+			},
+			unexpectedStoreBehavior: SkipTiFlash,
+			expectedStores:          map[uint64]int{1: 1},
+		},
+		{
+			stores: []*metapb.Store{
+				{Id: 1},
+				{Id: 2, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "engine", Value: "tiflash"}}},
+			},
+			unexpectedStoreBehavior: ErrorOnTiFlash,
+			expectedError:           "cannot restore to a cluster with active TiFlash stores.*",
+		},
+		{
+			stores: []*metapb.Store{
+				{Id: 1},
+				{Id: 2, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "engine", Value: "tiflash"}}},
+				{Id: 3},
+				{Id: 4, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "engine", Value: "tikv"}}},
+				{Id: 5, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "else", Value: "tikv"}, {Key: "engine", Value: "tiflash"}}},
+				{Id: 6, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "else", Value: "tiflash"}, {Key: "engine", Value: "tikv"}}},
+			},
+			unexpectedStoreBehavior: SkipTiFlash,
+			expectedStores:          map[uint64]int{1: 1, 3: 1, 4: 1, 6: 1},
+		},
+		{
+			stores: []*metapb.Store{
+				{Id: 1},
+				{Id: 2, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "engine", Value: "tiflash"}}},
+				{Id: 3},
+				{Id: 4, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "engine", Value: "tikv"}}},
+				{Id: 5, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "else", Value: "tikv"}, {Key: "engine", Value: "tiflash"}}},
+				{Id: 6, Labels: []*metapb.StoreLabel{{Key: "else", Value: "tiflash"}, {Key: "engine", Value: "tikv"}}},
+			},
+			unexpectedStoreBehavior: ErrorOnTiFlash,
+			expectedError:           "cannot restore to a cluster with active TiFlash stores.*",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, testCase := range testCases {
+		pdClient := fakePDClient{stores: testCase.stores}
+		stores, err := GetAllTiKVStores(context.Background(), pdClient, testCase.unexpectedStoreBehavior)
+		if len(testCase.expectedError) != 0 {
+			c.Assert(err, ErrorMatches, testCase.expectedError)
+			continue
+		}
+		foundStores := make(map[uint64]int)
+		for _, store := range stores {
+			foundStores[store.Id]++
+		}
+		c.Assert(foundStores, DeepEquals, testCase.expectedStores)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/restore/client.go b/pkg/restore/client.go
index 93cc97567..914b94607 100644
--- a/pkg/restore/client.go
+++ b/pkg/restore/client.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/keepalive"
 
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/checksum"
+	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/conn"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/glue"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/summary"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/utils"
@@ -261,7 +262,7 @@ func (rc *Client) ExecDDLs(ddlJobs []*model.Job) error {
 
 func (rc *Client) setSpeedLimit() error {
 	if !rc.hasSpeedLimited && rc.rateLimit != 0 {
-		stores, err := rc.pdClient.GetAllStores(rc.ctx, pd.WithExcludeTombstone())
+		stores, err := conn.GetAllTiKVStores(rc.ctx, rc.pdClient, conn.ErrorOnTiFlash)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -345,7 +346,7 @@ func (rc *Client) SwitchToNormalMode(ctx context.Context) error {
 }
 
 func (rc *Client) switchTiKVMode(ctx context.Context, mode import_sstpb.SwitchMode) error {
-	stores, err := rc.pdClient.GetAllStores(ctx, pd.WithExcludeTombstone())
+	stores, err := conn.GetAllTiKVStores(ctx, rc.pdClient, conn.ErrorOnTiFlash)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Trace(err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/task/backup.go b/pkg/task/backup.go
index ab22c9039..8d9613047 100644
--- a/pkg/task/backup.go
+++ b/pkg/task/backup.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/backup"
+	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/conn"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/glue"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/storage"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/summary"
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ func RunBackup(c context.Context, g glue.Glue, cmdName string, cfg *BackupConfig
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	mgr, err := newMgr(ctx, g, cfg.PD, cfg.TLS)
+	mgr, err := newMgr(ctx, g, cfg.PD, cfg.TLS, conn.SkipTiFlash)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/task/backup_raw.go b/pkg/task/backup_raw.go
index aa980b1a0..a51e80e95 100644
--- a/pkg/task/backup_raw.go
+++ b/pkg/task/backup_raw.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/backup"
+	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/conn"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/glue"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/rtree"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/storage"
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ func RunBackupRaw(c context.Context, g glue.Glue, cmdName string, cfg *BackupRaw
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	mgr, err := newMgr(ctx, g, cfg.PD, cfg.TLS)
+	mgr, err := newMgr(ctx, g, cfg.PD, cfg.TLS, conn.SkipTiFlash)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/task/common.go b/pkg/task/common.go
index 80f5eb258..859c4206d 100644
--- a/pkg/task/common.go
+++ b/pkg/task/common.go
@@ -208,7 +208,13 @@ func (cfg *Config) ParseFromFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) error {
 }
 
 // newMgr creates a new mgr at the given PD address.
-func newMgr(ctx context.Context, g glue.Glue, pds []string, tlsConfig TLSConfig) (*conn.Mgr, error) {
+func newMgr(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	g glue.Glue,
+	pds []string,
+	tlsConfig TLSConfig,
+	unexpectedStoreBehavior conn.UnexpectedStoreBehavior,
+) (*conn.Mgr, error) {
 	var (
 		tlsConf *tls.Config
 		err     error
@@ -234,7 +240,7 @@ func newMgr(ctx context.Context, g glue.Glue, pds []string, tlsConfig TLSConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return conn.NewMgr(ctx, g, pdAddress, store.(tikv.Storage), tlsConf, securityOption)
+	return conn.NewMgr(ctx, g, pdAddress, store.(tikv.Storage), tlsConf, securityOption, unexpectedStoreBehavior)
 }
 
 // GetStorage gets the storage backend from the config.
diff --git a/pkg/task/restore.go b/pkg/task/restore.go
index a02e49cf1..c443b4c0f 100644
--- a/pkg/task/restore.go
+++ b/pkg/task/restore.go
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ func RunRestore(c context.Context, g glue.Glue, cmdName string, cfg *RestoreConf
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(c)
 	defer cancel()
 
-	mgr, err := newMgr(ctx, g, cfg.PD, cfg.TLS)
+	mgr, err := newMgr(ctx, g, cfg.PD, cfg.TLS, conn.ErrorOnTiFlash)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}