diff --git a/public/app/features/templating/templateSrv.js b/public/app/features/templating/templateSrv.js
index 2e5f945c96a..b8d6cbaee2d 100644
--- a/public/app/features/templating/templateSrv.js
+++ b/public/app/features/templating/templateSrv.js
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ function (angular, _) {
       }
 
       variableName = regexEscape(variableName);
-      var findVarRegex = new RegExp('\\$(' + variableName + ')[\\W|$]|\\[\\[(' + variableName + ')\\]\\]', 'g');
+      var findVarRegex = new RegExp('\\$(' + variableName + ')(?:\\W|$)|\\[\\[(' + variableName + ')\\]\\]', 'g');
       var match = findVarRegex.exec(str);
       return match !== null;
     };
diff --git a/public/test/specs/templateSrv-specs.js b/public/test/specs/templateSrv-specs.js
index c5f33d4f72f..a592cc7a152 100644
--- a/public/test/specs/templateSrv-specs.js
+++ b/public/test/specs/templateSrv-specs.js
@@ -205,6 +205,10 @@ define([
         expect(contains).to.be(true);
       });
 
+      it('should find it its the only thing', function() {
+        var contains = _templateSrv.containsVariable('$env', 'env');
+        expect(contains).to.be(true);
+      });
     });
 
     describe('updateTemplateData with simple value', function() {