diff --git a/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/feature-toggles/index.md b/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/feature-toggles/index.md
index a8007bd3342..22b0220bf3d 100644
--- a/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/feature-toggles/index.md
+++ b/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/feature-toggles/index.md
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ Experimental features might be changed or removed without prior notice.
 | `queryService`                              | Register /apis/query.grafana.app/ -- will eventually replace /api/ds/query                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
 | `queryServiceRewrite`                       | Rewrite requests targeting /ds/query to the query service                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
 | `queryServiceFromUI`                        | Routes requests to the new query service                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
+| `queryServiceFromExplore`                   | Routes explore requests to the new query service                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
 | `cachingOptimizeSerializationMemoryUsage`   | If enabled, the caching backend gradually serializes query responses for the cache, comparing against the configured `[caching]max_value_mb` value as it goes. This can can help prevent Grafana from running out of memory while attempting to cache very large query responses. |
 | `prometheusCodeModeMetricNamesSearch`       | Enables search for metric names in Code Mode, to improve performance when working with an enormous number of metric names                                                                                                                                                         |
 | `alertmanagerRemoteSecondary`               | Enable Grafana to sync configuration and state with a remote Alertmanager.                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts
index 64596504fce..7170521f9df 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts
@@ -407,6 +407,10 @@ export interface FeatureToggles {
   */
   queryServiceFromUI?: boolean;
   /**
+  * Routes explore requests to the new query service
+  */
+  queryServiceFromExplore?: boolean;
+  /**
   * Runs CloudWatch metrics queries as separate batches
   */
   cloudWatchBatchQueries?: boolean;
diff --git a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
index 2ce4b88e85f..7ce7e9aa52d 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import {
   parseLiveChannelAddress,
   ScopedVars,
   AdHocVariableFilter,
+  CoreApp,
 } from '@grafana/data';
 
 import { reportInteraction } from '../analytics/utils';
@@ -208,6 +209,18 @@ class DataSourceWithBackend<
 
     let url = '/api/ds/query?ds_type=' + this.type;
 
+    // Use the new query service for explore
+    if (config.featureToggles.queryServiceFromExplore && request.app === CoreApp.Explore) {
+      // make sure query-service is enabled on the backend
+      const isQueryServiceEnabled = config.featureToggles.queryService;
+      const isExperimentalAPIsEnabled = config.featureToggles.grafanaAPIServerWithExperimentalAPIs;
+      if (!isQueryServiceEnabled && !isExperimentalAPIsEnabled) {
+        console.warn('feature toggle queryServiceFromExplore also requires the queryService to be running');
+      } else {
+        url = `/apis/query.grafana.app/v0alpha1/namespaces/${config.namespace}/query?ds_type=${this.type}`;
+      }
+    }
+
     // Use the new query service
     if (config.featureToggles.queryServiceFromUI) {
       if (!(config.featureToggles.queryService || config.featureToggles.grafanaAPIServerWithExperimentalAPIs)) {
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go
index 727ffe32223..f28f1aa23b0 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go
@@ -684,6 +684,13 @@ var (
 			Owner:        grafanaAppPlatformSquad,
 			FrontendOnly: true, // and can change at startup
 		},
+		{
+			Name:         "queryServiceFromExplore",
+			Description:  "Routes explore requests to the new query service",
+			Stage:        FeatureStageExperimental,
+			Owner:        grafanaDatasourcesCoreServicesSquad,
+			FrontendOnly: true,
+		},
 		{
 			Name:        "cloudWatchBatchQueries",
 			Description: "Runs CloudWatch metrics queries as separate batches",
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv
index ef7cbcfdd96..23ecb8bede8 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ datasourceQueryTypes,experimental,@grafana/grafana-app-platform-squad,false,true
 queryService,experimental,@grafana/grafana-app-platform-squad,false,true,false
 queryServiceRewrite,experimental,@grafana/grafana-app-platform-squad,false,true,false
 queryServiceFromUI,experimental,@grafana/grafana-app-platform-squad,false,false,true
+queryServiceFromExplore,experimental,@grafana/grafana-datasources-core-services,false,false,true
 cloudWatchBatchQueries,preview,@grafana/aws-datasources,false,false,false
 recoveryThreshold,GA,@grafana/alerting-squad,false,true,false
 lokiStructuredMetadata,GA,@grafana/observability-logs,false,false,false
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go
index 89e6a99d839..da3ba572ea8 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go
@@ -371,6 +371,10 @@ const (
 	// Routes requests to the new query service
 	FlagQueryServiceFromUI = "queryServiceFromUI"
 
+	// FlagQueryServiceFromExplore
+	// Routes explore requests to the new query service
+	FlagQueryServiceFromExplore = "queryServiceFromExplore"
+
 	// FlagCloudWatchBatchQueries
 	// Runs CloudWatch metrics queries as separate batches
 	FlagCloudWatchBatchQueries = "cloudWatchBatchQueries"
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json
index b5a04e9938f..1eb711cbca6 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json
@@ -3660,6 +3660,19 @@
         "requiresRestart": true
       }
     },
+    {
+      "metadata": {
+        "name": "queryServiceFromExplore",
+        "resourceVersion": "1743513714582",
+        "creationTimestamp": "2025-04-01T13:21:54Z"
+      },
+      "spec": {
+        "description": "Routes explore requests to the new query service",
+        "stage": "experimental",
+        "codeowner": "@grafana/grafana-datasources-core-services",
+        "frontend": true
+      }
+    },
     {
       "metadata": {
         "name": "queryServiceFromUI",