diff --git a/public/app/features/trails/helpers/MetricDatasourceHelper.ts b/public/app/features/trails/helpers/MetricDatasourceHelper.ts
index 48aa4f9c3d1..910e55bb07c 100644
--- a/public/app/features/trails/helpers/MetricDatasourceHelper.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/trails/helpers/MetricDatasourceHelper.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export class MetricDatasourceHelper {
 
     if (ds.languageProvider instanceof PrometheusLanguageProvider) {
       if (!ds.languageProvider.metricsMetadata) {
-        await ds.languageProvider.start();
+        await ds.languageProvider.loadMetricsMetadata();
       }
 
       return ds.languageProvider.metricsMetadata!;