diff --git a/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/inventory.go b/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/inventory.go
index 76157d12a0..6d5323d56e 100644
--- a/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/inventory.go
+++ b/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/inventory.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/segmentio/ksuid"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/providers-sdk/v1/vault"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
@@ -56,7 +57,8 @@ func InventoryFromYAML(data []byte) (*Inventory, error) {
 		for _, asset := range res.Spec.Assets {
 			for _, conn := range asset.Connections {
 				if conn.Type == "" {
-					conn.Type = connBackendToType(conn.Backend)
+					log.Warn().Msg("no connection type provided, falling back to deprecated option backend")
+					conn.Type = ConnBackendToType(conn.Backend)
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/v8_inventory.go b/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/v8_inventory.go
index 7f31fc6393..6abd2eb7ac 100644
--- a/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/v8_inventory.go
+++ b/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/v8_inventory.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (s *ProviderType) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func connBackendToType(backend ProviderType) string {
+func ConnBackendToType(backend ProviderType) string {
 	switch backend {
 	case ProviderType_LOCAL_OS:
 		return "os"
diff --git a/providers/runtime.go b/providers/runtime.go
index 90df00ee98..10e8722d3d 100644
--- a/providers/runtime.go
+++ b/providers/runtime.go
@@ -160,11 +160,8 @@ func (r *Runtime) DetectProvider(asset *inventory.Asset) error {
 	for i := range asset.Connections {
 		conn := asset.Connections[i]
 		if conn.Type == "" {
-			if conn.Backend != "" {
-				conn.Type = conn.Backend
-			} else {
-				continue
-			}
+			log.Warn().Msg("no connection type provided, falling back to deprecated option backend")
+			conn.Type = inventory.ConnBackendToType(conn.Backend)
 		}
 
 		provider, err := EnsureProvider("", conn.Type, true, r.coordinator.Providers)