diff --git a/registry/direct/watcher.go b/registry/direct/watcher.go
index 8ad5f858c..533c80d63 100644
--- a/registry/direct/watcher.go
+++ b/registry/direct/watcher.go
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ var domainRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^(?:[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-
 
 func (w *watcher) generateServiceEntry(host string) *v1alpha3.ServiceEntry {
 	endpoints := make([]*v1alpha3.WorkloadEntry, 0)
+	protocol := string(common.ParseProtocol(w.Protocol))
 	for _, ep := range strings.Split(w.Domain, common.CommaSeparator) {
 		var endpoint *v1alpha3.WorkloadEntry
 		if w.Type == string(registry.Static) {
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ func (w *watcher) generateServiceEntry(host string) *v1alpha3.ServiceEntry {
 			}
 			endpoint = &v1alpha3.WorkloadEntry{
 				Address: pair[0],
-				Ports:   map[string]uint32{w.Protocol: uint32(port)},
+				Ports:   map[string]uint32{protocol: uint32(port)},
 			}
 		} else if w.Type == string(registry.DNS) {
 			if !domainRegex.MatchString(ep) {
@@ -175,8 +176,8 @@ func (w *watcher) generateServiceEntry(host string) *v1alpha3.ServiceEntry {
 	var ports []*v1alpha3.ServicePort
 	ports = append(ports, &v1alpha3.ServicePort{
 		Number:   w.Port,
-		Name:     w.Protocol,
-		Protocol: string(common.ParseProtocol(w.Protocol)),
+		Name:     protocol,
+		Protocol: protocol,
 	})
 	se := &v1alpha3.ServiceEntry{
 		Hosts:     []string{host},