diff --git a/dio/CHANGELOG.md b/dio/CHANGELOG.md
index 9c54cf280..f954141c5 100644
--- a/dio/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/dio/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
-*None.*
+- Revert changes to `CancelToken.cancel()` behavior, as a result the `DioError`
+  provided by the `CancelToken.cancelError` does not contain useful information
+  when the token was not used with a request.
 
 ## 5.1.0
 
diff --git a/dio/lib/src/cancel_token.dart b/dio/lib/src/cancel_token.dart
index b4e430917..b049deb4c 100644
--- a/dio/lib/src/cancel_token.dart
+++ b/dio/lib/src/cancel_token.dart
@@ -31,13 +31,8 @@ class CancelToken {
 
   /// Cancel the request with the given [reason].
   void cancel([Object? reason]) {
-    if (requestOptions == null) {
-      throw StateError(
-        'CancelToken was canceled before being used in a request.',
-      );
-    }
     _cancelError = DioError.requestCancelled(
-      requestOptions: requestOptions!,
+      requestOptions: requestOptions ?? RequestOptions(),
       reason: reason,
       stackTrace: StackTrace.current,
     );
diff --git a/dio/test/cancel_token_test.dart b/dio/test/cancel_token_test.dart
index 0560945ee..bfbdcb5fc 100644
--- a/dio/test/cancel_token_test.dart
+++ b/dio/test/cancel_token_test.dart
@@ -16,10 +16,8 @@ void main() {
       token.cancel(reason);
     });
 
-    test('cancel without use throws StateError', () async {
-      final token = CancelToken();
-
-      expect(() => token.cancel(), throwsStateError);
+    test('cancel without use does not throw (#1765)', () async {
+      CancelToken().cancel();
     });
   });
 }