I would agree with not compromising your vision. However, you did not compromise your vision, you enhance it with a unforeseen game mechanic. You didn’t switch the method, you used the problem, turning a negative into a positive, which was the correct solution to that problem. Instead of feeling shame, feel proud.
If its really eating you up on the inside, remove it and implement what you had envisioned no matter how much time it takes. No one else knows what that really is, except you. Thus, no-one else will care. At the end of the day, You are not making the game just for you to please yourself, its your Players you aim to please and they’ll appreciate the mechanic, because you provided it.