diff --git a/apps/emqx_plugins/src/emqx_plugins.erl b/apps/emqx_plugins/src/emqx_plugins.erl
index 0879d5936..c7c67ed23 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_plugins/src/emqx_plugins.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_plugins/src/emqx_plugins.erl
@@ -648,7 +648,8 @@ put_config(Key, Value) when is_atom(Key) ->
     put_config([Key], Value);
 put_config(Path, Values) when is_list(Path) ->
     Opts = #{rawconf_with_defaults => true, override_to => cluster},
-    case emqx_conf:update([?CONF_ROOT | Path], bin_key(Values), Opts) of
+    %% Already in cluster_rpc, don't use emqx_conf:update, dead calls
+    case emqx:update_config([?CONF_ROOT | Path], bin_key(Values), Opts) of
         {ok, _} -> ok;
         Error -> Error
     end.