diff --git a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/serialization/transformSaveModelSchemaV2ToScene.ts b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/serialization/transformSaveModelSchemaV2ToScene.ts
index 7d57a2b087f..7b98e81c29e 100644
--- a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/serialization/transformSaveModelSchemaV2ToScene.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/serialization/transformSaveModelSchemaV2ToScene.ts
@@ -281,7 +281,8 @@ function createVariablesForDashboard(dashboard: DashboardV2Spec) {
     // Added temporarily to allow skipping non-compatible variables
     .filter((v): v is SceneVariable => Boolean(v));
 
-  if (config.featureToggles.scopeFilters) {
+  // Explicitly disable scopes for public dashboards
+  if (config.featureToggles.scopeFilters && !config.publicDashboardAccessToken) {
     variableObjects.push(new ScopesVariable({ enable: true }));
   }
 
diff --git a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/variables.ts b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/variables.ts
index 4f4ef802806..3051fd69a93 100644
--- a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/variables.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/variables.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ export function createVariablesForDashboard(oldModel: DashboardModel) {
     // Added temporarily to allow skipping non-compatible variables
     .filter((v): v is SceneVariable => Boolean(v));
 
-  if (config.featureToggles.scopeFilters) {
+  // Explicitly disable scopes for public dashboards
+  if (config.featureToggles.scopeFilters && !config.publicDashboardAccessToken) {
     variableObjects.push(new ScopesVariable({ enable: true }));
   }