diff --git a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
index 0046c4aaa12..c4ee525d5f7 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
@@ -160,6 +160,13 @@ class DataSourceWithBackend<
    */
   filterQuery?(query: TQuery): boolean;
 
+  /**
+   * Apply template variables for explore
+   */
+  interpolateVariablesInQueries(queries: TQuery[], scopedVars: ScopedVars | {}): TQuery[] {
+    return queries.map((q) => this.applyTemplateVariables(q, scopedVars) as TQuery);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Override to apply template variables.  The result is usually also `TQuery`, but sometimes this can
    * be used to modify the query structure before sending to the backend.