diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/mma_store_rebalancer.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/mma_store_rebalancer.go
index 805904e21954..eebe50ee0b5e 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/mma_store_rebalancer.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/mma_store_rebalancer.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/mmaintegration"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/roachpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings/cluster"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/buildutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/stop"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
@@ -62,15 +61,7 @@ func newMMAStoreRebalancer(
 	mma.SetDiskUtilThresholds(opts.RebalanceToThreshold, opts.ShedAndBlockAllThreshold)
 	as := s.cfg.AllocatorSync
 	if as == nil {
-		// Production code (server.go) is expected to populate AllocatorSync on
-		// the StoreConfig. A handful of test entry points (TestStoreConfig and
-		// the assorted store_rebalancer_test setups) populate StorePool but not
-		// AllocatorSync; fall back to constructing one here so those tests don't
-		// trip a nil-receiver panic from the background rebalancer goroutine.
-		if !buildutil.CrdbTestBuild {
-			panic(errors.AssertionFailedf("AllocatorSync must be set on StoreConfig outside of test builds"))
-		}
-		as = mmaintegration.NewAllocatorSync(s.cfg.StorePool, mma, st, nil /* knobs */)
+		panic(errors.AssertionFailedf("AllocatorSync must be set on StoreConfig"))
 	}
 	return &mmaStoreRebalancer{
 		store:              (*mmaStore)(s),
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/store.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/store.go
index d3b2bdf4e426..2b6f687ada94 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/store.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/store.go
@@ -1491,6 +1491,15 @@ func NewStore(
 	if !cfg.Valid() {
 		log.KvExec.Fatalf(ctx, "invalid store configuration: %+v", &cfg)
 	}
+	// Production code (server.go) pairs MMAllocator with an AllocatorSync on
+	// the StoreConfig. A number of test entry points populate MMAllocator (via
+	// TestStoreConfig) and StorePool but leave AllocatorSync unset; co-construct
+	// it here so the rebalancer and queues always observe a non-nil receiver.
+	if cfg.AllocatorSync == nil && cfg.MMAllocator != nil {
+		cfg.AllocatorSync = mmaintegration.NewAllocatorSync(
+			cfg.StorePool, cfg.MMAllocator, cfg.Settings, nil, /* knobs */
+		)
+	}
 	iot := ioThresholds{}
 	iot.Replace(nil, 1.0) // init as empty
 	s := &Store{
diff --git a/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/BUILD.bazel
index fc27392c60f9..b69e974a30d6 100644
--- a/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/BUILD.bazel
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/kv/kvserver/kvstorage",
         "//pkg/kv/kvserver/liveness",
         "//pkg/kv/kvserver/load",
-        "//pkg/kv/kvserver/mmaintegration",
         "//pkg/kv/kvserver/storeliveness",
         "//pkg/multitenant/tenantcapabilities/tenantcapabilitiesauthorizer",
         "//pkg/roachpb",
diff --git a/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/local_test_cluster.go b/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/local_test_cluster.go
index 2cea8532e2b3..0d226fb6748c 100644
--- a/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/local_test_cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/testutils/localtestcluster/local_test_cluster.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/kvstorage"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/liveness"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/load"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/mmaintegration"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/storeliveness"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/multitenant/tenantcapabilities/tenantcapabilitiesauthorizer"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/roachpb"
@@ -250,8 +249,8 @@ func (ltc *LocalTestCluster) Start(t testing.TB, initFactory InitFactoryFn) {
 	)
 	cfg.MMAllocator = mmaprototype.NewAllocatorState(timeutil.DefaultTimeSource{},
 		rand.New(rand.NewSource(timeutil.Now().UnixNano())))
-	cfg.AllocatorSync = mmaintegration.NewAllocatorSync(
-		cfg.StorePool, cfg.MMAllocator, cfg.Settings, nil /* knobs */)
+	// AllocatorSync is co-constructed by kvserver.NewStore from MMAllocator and
+	// StorePool.
 
 	cfg.Transport = kvserver.NewDummyRaftTransport(cfg.AmbientCtx, cfg.Settings, ltc.Clock)
 	cfg.ClosedTimestampReceiver = sidetransport.NewReceiver(nc, ltc.stopper, ltc.Stores, nil /* testingKnobs */)