diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1c0c02e8a..0dfd8b6e4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ TRIVYADAPTERVERSION=v0.31.2
 
 # version of registry for pulling the source code
 REGISTRY_SRC_TAG=v2.8.3
+# source of upstream distribution code
+DISTRIBUTION_SRC=https://github.com/distribution/distribution.git
 
 # dependency binaries
 REGISTRYURL=https://storage.googleapis.com/harbor-builds/bin/registry/release-${REGISTRYVERSION}/registry
@@ -388,7 +390,7 @@ build:
 		exit 1; \
 	fi
 	make -f $(MAKEFILEPATH_PHOTON)/Makefile $(BUILDTARGET) -e DEVFLAG=$(DEVFLAG) -e GOBUILDIMAGE=$(GOBUILDIMAGE) \
-	 -e REGISTRYVERSION=$(REGISTRYVERSION) -e REGISTRY_SRC_TAG=$(REGISTRY_SRC_TAG) \
+	 -e REGISTRYVERSION=$(REGISTRYVERSION) -e REGISTRY_SRC_TAG=$(REGISTRY_SRC_TAG)  -e DISTRIBUTION_SRC=$(DISTRIBUTION_SRC)\
 	 -e TRIVYVERSION=$(TRIVYVERSION) -e TRIVYADAPTERVERSION=$(TRIVYADAPTERVERSION) \
 	 -e VERSIONTAG=$(VERSIONTAG) \
 	 -e BUILDBIN=$(BUILDBIN) \
diff --git a/make/photon/Makefile b/make/photon/Makefile
index c6de67da3..0dc0678cc 100644
--- a/make/photon/Makefile
+++ b/make/photon/Makefile
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ _build_registry:
 		rm -rf $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG)/binary && mkdir -p $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG)/binary && \
 		$(call _get_binary, $(REGISTRYURL), $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG)/binary/registry); \
 	else \
-		cd $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG) && $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG)/builder $(REGISTRY_SRC_TAG) && cd - ; \
+		cd $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG) && $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG)/builder $(REGISTRY_SRC_TAG) $(DISTRIBUTION_SRC) && cd - ; \
 	fi
 	@echo "building registry container for photon..."
 	@chmod 655 $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG)/binary/registry && $(DOCKERBUILD_WITH_PULL_PARA) --build-arg harbor_base_image_version=$(BASEIMAGETAG) --build-arg harbor_base_namespace=$(BASEIMAGENAMESPACE) -f $(DOCKERFILEPATH_REG)/$(DOCKERFILENAME_REG) -t $(DOCKERIMAGENAME_REG):$(VERSIONTAG) .
diff --git a/make/photon/registry/builder b/make/photon/registry/builder
index e076f8565..0c254cbf7 100755
--- a/make/photon/registry/builder
+++ b/make/photon/registry/builder
@@ -7,7 +7,13 @@ if [ -z $1 ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+if [ -z $2 ]; then
+  error "Please set the 'distribution_src' variable"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 VERSION="$1"
+DISTRIBUTION_SRC="$2"
 
 set -e
 
@@ -20,7 +26,7 @@ cur=$PWD
 
 # the temp folder to store distribution source code...
 TEMP=`mktemp -d ${TMPDIR-/tmp}/distribution.XXXXXX`
-git clone -b $VERSION https://github.com/distribution/distribution.git $TEMP
+git clone -b $VERSION $DISTRIBUTION_SRC $TEMP
 
 # add patch redis
 cd $TEMP