diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/opentsdb/datasource.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/opentsdb/datasource.js
index d7cc354861f..f4680038e8d 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/opentsdb/datasource.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/opentsdb/datasource.js
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ function (angular, _, dateMath) {
         data: reqBody
       };
 
+      // In case the backend is 3rd-party hosted and does not suport OPTIONS, urlencoded requests
+      // go as POST rather than OPTIONS+POST
+      options.headers = { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' };
       return backendSrv.datasourceRequest(options);
     };