diff --git a/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py b/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py
index 7442c9be7a6..307fb55341c 100644
--- a/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py
+++ b/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py
@@ -1710,8 +1710,6 @@ def merge_dicts(source: Dict[Any, Any], destination: Dict[Any, Any]):
             else:
                 destination[key].extend(value)
         else:
-            if destination is None:
-                destination = {}
             destination[key] = value