diff --git a/src/meta/src/stream/source_manager.rs b/src/meta/src/stream/source_manager.rs
index 1c80a46d0cec9..569530ba7e006 100644
--- a/src/meta/src/stream/source_manager.rs
+++ b/src/meta/src/stream/source_manager.rs
@@ -521,11 +521,12 @@ impl SourceManagerCore {
             }
             self.source_fragments.remove(&source_id);
             if let Some(fragments) = self.backfill_fragments.remove(&source_id) {
-                debug_assert!(
-                    fragments.is_empty(),
-                    "when dropping source, there should be no backfill fragments, got: {:?}",
-                    fragments
-                );
+                // TODO: enable this assertion after we implemented cleanup for backfill fragments
+                // debug_assert!(
+                //     fragments.is_empty(),
+                //     "when dropping source, there should be no backfill fragments, got: {:?}",
+                //     fragments
+                // );
             }
         }