diff --git a/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb.go b/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb.go
index 75a1d9a6e9bcb..dc1fa4fa48de3 100644
--- a/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb.go
+++ b/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb.go
@@ -131,10 +131,11 @@ func NewTargetInfoGetter(db *sql.DB) backend.TargetInfoGetter {
 // TODO: refactor
 func (b *targetInfoGetter) FetchRemoteTableModels(ctx context.Context, schemaName string) ([]*model.TableInfo, error) {
 	var err error
-	tables := []*model.TableInfo{}
+	results := []*model.TableInfo{}
+	logger := log.FromContext(ctx)
 	s := common.SQLWithRetry{
 		DB:     b.db,
-		Logger: log.FromContext(ctx),
+		Logger: logger,
 	}
 
 	err = s.Transact(ctx, "fetch table columns", func(c context.Context, tx *sql.Tx) error {
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ func (b *targetInfoGetter) FetchRemoteTableModels(ctx context.Context, schemaNam
 			curColOffset int
 			curTable     *model.TableInfo
 		)
+		tables := []*model.TableInfo{}
 		for rows.Next() {
 			var tableName, columnName, columnType, generationExpr, columnExtra string
 			if e := rows.Scan(&tableName, &columnName, &columnType, &generationExpr, &columnExtra); e != nil {
@@ -202,15 +204,24 @@ func (b *targetInfoGetter) FetchRemoteTableModels(ctx context.Context, schemaNam
 		// shard_row_id/auto random is only available after tidb v4.0.0
 		// `show table next_row_id` is also not available before tidb v4.0.0
 		if serverInfo.ServerType != version.ServerTypeTiDB || serverInfo.ServerVersion.Major < 4 {
+			results = tables
 			return nil
 		}
 
+		failpoint.Inject(
+			"FetchRemoteTableModels_BeforeFetchTableAutoIDInfos",
+			func() {
+				fmt.Println("failpoint: FetchRemoteTableModels_BeforeFetchTableAutoIDInfos")
+			},
+		)
+
 		// init auto id column for each table
 		for _, tbl := range tables {
 			tblName := common.UniqueTable(schemaName, tbl.Name.O)
 			autoIDInfos, err := FetchTableAutoIDInfos(ctx, tx, tblName)
 			if err != nil {
-				return errors.Trace(err)
+				logger.Warn("fetch table auto ID infos error. Ignore this table and continue.", zap.String("table_name", tblName), zap.Error(err))
+				continue
 			}
 			for _, info := range autoIDInfos {
 				for _, col := range tbl.Columns {
@@ -227,10 +238,11 @@ func (b *targetInfoGetter) FetchRemoteTableModels(ctx context.Context, schemaNam
 					}
 				}
 			}
+			results = append(results, tbl)
 		}
 		return nil
 	})
-	return tables, err
+	return results, err
 }
 
 // CheckRequirements performs the check whether the backend satisfies the version requirements.
diff --git a/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb_test.go b/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb_test.go
index 775963a8549c4..addf8707b9a2c 100644
--- a/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb_test.go
+++ b/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/tidb_test.go
@@ -405,6 +405,54 @@ func TestFetchRemoteTableModels_4_x_auto_random(t *testing.T) {
 	}, tableInfos)
 }
 
+func TestFetchRemoteTableModelsDropTableHalfway(t *testing.T) {
+	s := createMysqlSuite(t)
+	defer s.TearDownTest(t)
+	s.mockDB.ExpectBegin()
+	s.mockDB.ExpectQuery("SELECT tidb_version()").
+		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"tidb_version()"}).AddRow(`Release Version: v99.0.0`)) // this is a fake version number
+	s.mockDB.ExpectQuery("\\QSELECT table_name, column_name, column_type, generation_expression, extra FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_schema = ? ORDER BY table_name, ordinal_position;\\E").
+		WithArgs("test").
+		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"table_name", "column_name", "column_type", "generation_expression", "extra"}).
+			AddRow("tbl01", "id", "bigint(20)", "", "auto_increment").
+			AddRow("tbl01", "val", "varchar(255)", "", "").
+			AddRow("tbl02", "id", "bigint(20)", "", "auto_increment").
+			AddRow("tbl02", "val", "varchar(255)", "", ""))
+	s.mockDB.ExpectQuery("SHOW TABLE `test`.`tbl01` NEXT_ROW_ID").
+		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"DB_NAME", "TABLE_NAME", "COLUMN_NAME", "NEXT_GLOBAL_ROW_ID", "ID_TYPE"}).
+			AddRow("test", "tbl01", "id", int64(1), "_TIDB_ROWID").
+			AddRow("test", "tbl01", "id", int64(1), "AUTO_INCREMENT"))
+	s.mockDB.ExpectQuery("SHOW TABLE `test`.`tbl02` NEXT_ROW_ID").
+		WillReturnError(mysql.NewErr(mysql.ErrNoSuchTable, "test", "tbl02"))
+	s.mockDB.ExpectCommit()
+
+	infoGetter := tidb.NewTargetInfoGetter(s.dbHandle)
+	tableInfos, err := infoGetter.FetchRemoteTableModels(context.Background(), "test")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	ft := types.FieldType{}
+	ft.SetFlag(mysql.AutoIncrementFlag)
+	require.Equal(t, []*model.TableInfo{
+		{
+			Name:       model.NewCIStr("tbl01"),
+			State:      model.StatePublic,
+			PKIsHandle: true,
+			Columns: []*model.ColumnInfo{
+				{
+					Name:      model.NewCIStr("id"),
+					Offset:    0,
+					State:     model.StatePublic,
+					FieldType: ft,
+				},
+				{
+					Name:   model.NewCIStr("val"),
+					Offset: 1,
+					State:  model.StatePublic,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}, tableInfos)
+}
+
 func TestWriteRowsErrorNoRetry(t *testing.T) {
 	nonRetryableError := sql.ErrNoRows
 	s := createMysqlSuite(t)
diff --git a/br/pkg/lightning/restore/get_pre_info.go b/br/pkg/lightning/restore/get_pre_info.go
index 4273ff708a89b..6251126a6c24e 100644
--- a/br/pkg/lightning/restore/get_pre_info.go
+++ b/br/pkg/lightning/restore/get_pre_info.go
@@ -367,6 +367,19 @@ func (p *PreRestoreInfoGetterImpl) GetAllTableStructures(ctx context.Context, op
 
 func (p *PreRestoreInfoGetterImpl) getTableStructuresByFileMeta(ctx context.Context, dbSrcFileMeta *mydump.MDDatabaseMeta, getPreInfoCfg *ropts.GetPreInfoConfig) ([]*model.TableInfo, error) {
 	dbName := dbSrcFileMeta.Name
+	failpoint.Inject(
+		"getTableStructuresByFileMeta_BeforeFetchRemoteTableModels",
+		func(v failpoint.Value) {
+			fmt.Println("failpoint: getTableStructuresByFileMeta_BeforeFetchRemoteTableModels")
+			const defaultMilliSeconds int = 5000
+			sleepMilliSeconds, ok := v.(int)
+			if !ok || sleepMilliSeconds <= 0 || sleepMilliSeconds > 30000 {
+				sleepMilliSeconds = defaultMilliSeconds
+			}
+			//nolint: errcheck
+			failpoint.Enable("github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/lightning/backend/tidb/FetchRemoteTableModels_BeforeFetchTableAutoIDInfos", fmt.Sprintf("sleep(%d)", sleepMilliSeconds))
+		},
+	)
 	currentTableInfosFromDB, err := p.targetInfoGetter.FetchRemoteTableModels(ctx, dbName)
 	if err != nil {
 		if getPreInfoCfg != nil && getPreInfoCfg.IgnoreDBNotExist {
diff --git a/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/config.toml b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/config.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d39282f03e736
--- /dev/null
+++ b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/config.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[tikv-importer]
+backend = "tidb"
diff --git a/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/data/lntest.tbl01-schema.sql b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/data/lntest.tbl01-schema.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7b6ceff3ffa9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/data/lntest.tbl01-schema.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+CREATE TABLE tbl01 (
+    id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
+    val VARCHAR(64)
+);
diff --git a/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/data/lntest.tbl01.csv b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/data/lntest.tbl01.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4e3b45b8e0c51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/data/lntest.tbl01.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+id,val
+1,aaa
+2,bbb
+3,ccc
+4,ddd
+5,eee
diff --git a/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/run.sh b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..3bc97fbe48145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/br/tests/lightning_drop_other_tables_halfway/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright 2023 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.
+
+set -eu
+
+run_sql 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS lntest'
+run_sql 'CREATE DATABASE lntest'
+run_sql 'CREATE TABLE lntest.tbl02 (id BIGINT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT, val VARCHAR(255));'
+
+GO_FAILPOINTS="github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/lightning/restore/getTableStructuresByFileMeta_BeforeFetchRemoteTableModels=return(6000)" run_lightning &
+pid=$!
+
+sleep 4
+run_sql 'DROP TABLE lntest.tbl02;' && echo "table dropped"
+wait "${pid}"