diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
index d5607296d..099046afb 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
@@ -262,6 +262,9 @@ class InfoExtractor:
                                  * http_chunk_size Chunk size for HTTP downloads
                                  * ffmpeg_args     Extra arguments for ffmpeg downloader (input)
                                  * ffmpeg_args_out Extra arguments for ffmpeg downloader (output)
+                                 * ws              (NiconicoLiveFD only) WebSocketResponse
+                                 * ws_url          (NiconicoLiveFD only) Websockets URL
+                                 * max_quality     (NiconicoLiveFD only) Max stream quality string
                     * is_dash_periods  Whether the format is a result of merging
                                  multiple DASH periods.
                     RTMP formats can also have the additional fields: page_url,
diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/niconico.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/niconico.py
index 7a0628b4b..f6326bef7 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/niconico.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/niconico.py
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@
     urlencode_postdata,
     urljoin,
 )
-from ..utils.traversal import find_element, traverse_obj
+from ..utils.traversal import (
+    find_element,
+    require,
+    traverse_obj,
+)
 
 
 class NiconicoBaseIE(InfoExtractor):
@@ -890,8 +894,7 @@ def _real_extract(self, url):
             'id': video_id,
             'title': title,
             'downloader_options': {
-                'max_quality': traverse_obj(embedded_data, (
-                    'program', 'stream', 'maxQuality', {str})),
+                'max_quality': traverse_obj(embedded_data, ('program', 'stream', 'maxQuality', {str})) or 'normal',
                 'ws': ws,
                 'ws_url': ws_url,
             },