diff --git a/pkg/manager/router/backend_observer.go b/pkg/manager/router/backend_observer.go
index 5cc1fd82..24ad4bef 100644
--- a/pkg/manager/router/backend_observer.go
+++ b/pkg/manager/router/backend_observer.go
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ type BackendObserver struct {
 	eventReceiver  BackendEventReceiver
 	wg             waitgroup.WaitGroup
 	cancelFunc     context.CancelFunc
+	refreshChan    chan struct{}
 }
 
 // StartBackendObserver creates a BackendObserver and starts watching.
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ func NewBackendObserver(logger *zap.Logger, eventReceiver BackendEventReceiver,
 		httpCli:        httpCli,
 		httpTLS:        httpTLS,
 		eventReceiver:  eventReceiver,
+		refreshChan:    make(chan struct{}),
 	}
 	bo.fetcher = backendFetcher
 	return bo, nil
@@ -166,6 +168,15 @@ func (bo *BackendObserver) Start() {
 	})
 }
 
+// Refresh indicates the observer to refresh immediately.
+func (bo *BackendObserver) Refresh() {
+	// If the observer happens to be refreshing, skip this round.
+	select {
+	case bo.refreshChan <- struct{}{}:
+	default:
+	}
+}
+
 func (bo *BackendObserver) observe(ctx context.Context) {
 	for ctx.Err() == nil {
 		backendInfo := bo.fetcher.GetBackendList(ctx)
@@ -176,6 +187,7 @@ func (bo *BackendObserver) observe(ctx context.Context) {
 		bo.notifyIfChanged(backendStatus)
 		select {
 		case <-time.After(bo.config.healthCheckInterval):
+		case <-bo.refreshChan:
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/manager/router/router_score.go b/pkg/manager/router/router_score.go
index 2b6091bc..4e9ea244 100644
--- a/pkg/manager/router/router_score.go
+++ b/pkg/manager/router/router_score.go
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ func (router *ScoreBasedRouter) routeOnce(excluded []string) string {
 			return backend.addr
 		}
 	}
+	// No available backends, maybe the health check result is outdated during rolling restart.
+	// Refresh the backends asynchronously in this case.
+	if router.observer != nil {
+		router.observer.Refresh()
+	}
 	return ""
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/manager/router/router_test.go b/pkg/manager/router/router_test.go
index c3ae7ab8..0bc034bb 100644
--- a/pkg/manager/router/router_test.go
+++ b/pkg/manager/router/router_test.go
@@ -668,3 +668,52 @@ func TestConcurrency(t *testing.T) {
 	cancel()
 	router.Close()
 }
+
+// Test that the backends are refreshed immediately after it's empty.
+func TestRefresh(t *testing.T) {
+	backends := make([]string, 0)
+	var m sync.Mutex
+	fetcher := NewExternalFetcher(func() []string {
+		m.Lock()
+		defer m.Unlock()
+		return backends
+	})
+	// Create a router with a very long health check interval.
+	lg := logger.CreateLoggerForTest(t)
+	rt := &ScoreBasedRouter{
+		logger:   lg,
+		backends: list.New(),
+	}
+	cfg := NewDefaultHealthCheckConfig()
+	cfg.healthCheckInterval = time.Minute
+	observer, err := StartBackendObserver(lg, rt, nil, cfg, fetcher)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	rt.Lock()
+	rt.observer = observer
+	rt.Unlock()
+	defer rt.Close()
+	// The initial backends are empty.
+	selector := rt.GetBackendSelector()
+	addr := selector.Next()
+	require.True(t, len(addr) == 0)
+	// Create a new backend and add to the list.
+	server := newBackendServer(t)
+	m.Lock()
+	backends = append(backends, server.sqlAddr)
+	m.Unlock()
+	defer server.close()
+	// The backends are refreshed very soon.
+	timer := time.NewTimer(3 * time.Second)
+	defer timer.Stop()
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-timer.C:
+			t.Fatal("timeout")
+		case <-time.After(100 * time.Millisecond):
+			addr = selector.Next()
+			if len(addr) > 0 {
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/proxy/backend/backend_conn.go b/pkg/proxy/backend/backend_conn.go
index 7d083320..8fdcdb10 100644
--- a/pkg/proxy/backend/backend_conn.go
+++ b/pkg/proxy/backend/backend_conn.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	DialTimeout = 5 * time.Second
+	DialTimeout = 2 * time.Second
 )
 
 type BackendConnection struct {