diff --git a/cmd/mdatagen/.distributions.yaml b/cmd/mdatagen/.distributions.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d6c9cfb0824d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mdatagen/.distributions.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# A collection of distributions that can be referenced in the metadata.yaml files.
+# The rules below apply to every distribution added to this list:
+# - The distribution must be open source.
+# - The link must point to a publicly accessible repository.
+ - name: core
+   url: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/tree/main/distributions/otelcol
+ - name: contrib
+   url: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/tree/main/distributions/otelcol-contrib
+ - name: aws
+   url: https://github.com/aws-observability/aws-otel-collector
+ - name: grafana
+   url: https://github.com/grafana/agent
+ - name: observiq
+   url: https://github.com/observIQ/observiq-otel-collector
+ - name: redhat
+   url: https://github.com/os-observability/redhat-opentelemetry-collector
+ - name: splunk
+   url: https://github.com/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector
+   maintainers:
+      - atoulme
+      - crobert-1
+      - dmitryax
+      - hughesjj
+      - jeffreyc-splunk
+      - jinja2
+      - jvoravong
+      - panotti
+      - rmfitzpatrick
+      - samiura
+ - name: sumo
+   url: https://github.com/SumoLogic/sumologic-otel-collector
+   maintainers:
+      - aboguszewski-sumo
+      - astencel-sumo
+      - kkujawa-sumo
+      - rnishtala-sumo
+      - sumo-drosiek
+      - swiatekm-sumo
+ - name: liatrio
+   url: https://github.com/liatrio/liatrio-otel-collector
+   maintainers:
+      - adrielp
diff --git a/cmd/mdatagen/go.mod b/cmd/mdatagen/go.mod
index 6c9ec4e77d1f..ee538916999c 100644
--- a/cmd/mdatagen/go.mod
+++ b/cmd/mdatagen/go.mod
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ require (
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.26.0
 	golang.org/x/text v0.14.0
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 )
 
 require (
@@ -41,7 +42,6 @@ require (
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20230822172742-b8732ec3820d // indirect
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.59.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.31.0 // indirect
-	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
 
 retract (
diff --git a/cmd/mdatagen/statusdata.go b/cmd/mdatagen/statusdata.go
index 9ecf63d4257d..95f2c9fdd493 100644
--- a/cmd/mdatagen/statusdata.go
+++ b/cmd/mdatagen/statusdata.go
@@ -4,25 +4,35 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	_ "embed"
 	"sort"
+
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
 
-// distros is a collection of distributions that can be referenced in the metadata.yaml files.
-// The rules below apply to every distribution added to this list:
-// - The distribution must be open source.
-// - The link must point to a publicly accessible repository.
-var distros = map[string]string{
-	"core":     "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/tree/main/distributions/otelcol",
-	"contrib":  "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/tree/main/distributions/otelcol-contrib",
-	"aws":      "https://github.com/aws-observability/aws-otel-collector",
-	"grafana":  "https://github.com/grafana/agent",
-	"observiq": "https://github.com/observIQ/observiq-otel-collector",
-	"redhat":   "https://github.com/os-observability/redhat-opentelemetry-collector",
-	"splunk":   "https://github.com/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector",
-	"sumo":     "https://github.com/SumoLogic/sumologic-otel-collector",
-	"liatrio":  "https://github.com/liatrio/liatrio-otel-collector",
+//go:generate cp -r ../../distributions.yaml .distributions.yaml
+//go:embed .distributions.yaml
+var distrosBytes []byte
+
+func init() {
+	var dd []distroData
+	err := yaml.Unmarshal(distrosBytes, &dd)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	for _, d := range dd {
+		distros[d.Name] = d.URL
+	}
 }
 
+type distroData struct {
+	Name string `yaml:"name"`
+	URL  string `yaml:"url"`
+}
+
+// distros is a collection of distributions that can be referenced in the metadata.yaml files.
+var distros = map[string]string{}
+
 type Codeowners struct {
 	// Active codeowners
 	Active []string `mapstructure:"active"`