diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.test.ts
index 9368ed93d5b..2a84dca2490 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.test.ts
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ describe('datasource', () => {
       expect((datasource.getDefaultQuery(CoreApp.PanelEditor) as CloudWatchDefaultQuery).metricEditorMode).toEqual(
         MetricEditorMode.Builder
       );
-      expect((datasource.getDefaultQuery(CoreApp.PanelEditor) as CloudWatchDefaultQuery).matchExact).toEqual(true);
+      expect((datasource.getDefaultQuery(CoreApp.PanelEditor) as CloudWatchDefaultQuery).matchExact).toEqual(false);
     });
     it('should set default values from logs query', () => {
       const defaultLogGroups = [{ name: 'logName', arn: 'logARN' }];
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/defaultQueries.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/defaultQueries.ts
index bf66bf59151..22055f17256 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/defaultQueries.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/defaultQueries.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_METRICS_QUERY: Omit<CloudWatchMetricsQuery, 'refId'> = {
   metricEditorMode: MetricEditorMode.Builder,
   sql: undefined,
   sqlExpression: '',
-  matchExact: true,
+  matchExact: false,
 };
 
 export const DEFAULT_ANNOTATIONS_QUERY: Omit<CloudWatchAnnotationQuery, 'refId'> = {