diff --git a/pkg/otlp/collector.go b/pkg/otlp/collector.go
index f52edfe0fbca..d933df052dbf 100644
--- a/pkg/otlp/collector.go
+++ b/pkg/otlp/collector.go
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ func NewPipeline(cfg PipelineConfig) (*Pipeline, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
+	// HACK: ensure flags are not-nil
+	// TODO: fix this upstream.
+	_ = service.NewCommand(col)
 	return &Pipeline{col}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/otlp/model/translator/config.go b/pkg/otlp/model/translator/config.go
index 0cb09daa162b..9e85f31d2bb0 100644
--- a/pkg/otlp/model/translator/config.go
+++ b/pkg/otlp/model/translator/config.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func WithHistogramMode(mode HistogramMode) Option {
 	return func(t *translatorConfig) error {
 
 		switch mode {
-		case HistogramModeNoBuckets, HistogramModeCounters:
+		case HistogramModeNoBuckets, HistogramModeCounters, HistogramModeDistributions:
 			t.HistMode = mode
 		default:
 			return fmt.Errorf("unknown histogram mode: %q", mode)