diff --git a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/services/dataSourceSrv.ts b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/services/dataSourceSrv.ts
index d56db7f27cb..31baf9a9f5e 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/services/dataSourceSrv.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/services/dataSourceSrv.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ export interface DataSourceSrv {
   /**
    * Get settings and plugin metadata by name or uid
    */
-  getInstanceSettings(ref?: DataSourceRef | string | null): DataSourceInstanceSettings | undefined;
+  getInstanceSettings(
+    ref?: DataSourceRef | string | null,
+    scopedVars?: ScopedVars
+  ): DataSourceInstanceSettings | undefined;
 }
 
 /** @public */
diff --git a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
index a9271e937a6..844e2a7ee0c 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/DataSourceWithBackend.ts
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class DataSourceWithBackend<
       }
 
       if (q.datasource) {
-        const ds = getDataSourceSrv().getInstanceSettings(q.datasource);
+        const ds = getDataSourceSrv().getInstanceSettings(q.datasource, request.scopedVars);
 
         if (!ds) {
           throw new Error(`Unknown Datasource: ${JSON.stringify(q.datasource)}`);
diff --git a/public/app/features/plugins/datasource_srv.ts b/public/app/features/plugins/datasource_srv.ts
index 44a2500c82b..dd17b7faa0d 100644
--- a/public/app/features/plugins/datasource_srv.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/plugins/datasource_srv.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@ export class DatasourceSrv implements DataSourceService {
     return this.settingsMapByUid[uid];
   }
 
-  getInstanceSettings(ref: string | null | undefined | DataSourceRef): DataSourceInstanceSettings | undefined {
+  getInstanceSettings(
+    ref: string | null | undefined | DataSourceRef,
+    scopedVars?: ScopedVars
+  ): DataSourceInstanceSettings | undefined {
     const isstring = typeof ref === 'string';
     let nameOrUid = isstring ? (ref as string) : ((ref as any)?.uid as string | undefined);
 
@@ -81,7 +84,7 @@ export class DatasourceSrv implements DataSourceService {
     // Complex logic to support template variable data source names
     // For this we just pick the current or first data source in the variable
     if (nameOrUid[0] === '$') {
-      const interpolatedName = this.templateSrv.replace(nameOrUid, {}, variableInterpolation);
+      const interpolatedName = this.templateSrv.replace(nameOrUid, scopedVars, variableInterpolation);
 
       let dsSettings;
 
diff --git a/public/app/features/plugins/tests/datasource_srv.test.ts b/public/app/features/plugins/tests/datasource_srv.test.ts
index a471af2b66e..9af0de14ff1 100644
--- a/public/app/features/plugins/tests/datasource_srv.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/plugins/tests/datasource_srv.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 import { DatasourceSrv } from 'app/features/plugins/datasource_srv';
-import { DataSourceApi, DataSourceInstanceSettings, DataSourcePlugin, DataSourcePluginMeta } from '@grafana/data';
+import {
+  DataSourceApi,
+  DataSourceInstanceSettings,
+  DataSourcePlugin,
+  DataSourcePluginMeta,
+  ScopedVar,
+} from '@grafana/data';
 
 // Datasource variable $datasource with current value 'BBB'
 const templateSrv: any = {
@@ -19,7 +25,11 @@ const templateSrv: any = {
       },
     },
   ],
-  replace: (v: string) => {
+  replace: (v: string, scopedVars: ScopedVar) => {
+    if (scopedVars && scopedVars.datasource) {
+      return v.replace('${datasource}', scopedVars.datasource.value);
+    }
+
     let result = v.replace('${datasource}', 'BBB');
     result = result.replace('${datasourceDefault}', 'default');
     return result;
@@ -124,6 +134,14 @@ describe('datasource_srv', () => {
         expect(instance.uid).toBe('uid-code-mmm');
         expect(instance.getRef()).toEqual({ type: 'test-db', uid: 'uid-code-mmm' });
       });
+
+      it('Can get by variable', async () => {
+        const ds = (await dataSourceSrv.get('${datasource}')) as any;
+        expect(ds.meta).toBe(dataSourceInit.BBB.meta);
+
+        const ds2 = await dataSourceSrv.get('${datasource}', { datasource: { text: 'Prom', value: 'uid-code-aaa' } });
+        expect(ds2.uid).toBe(dataSourceInit.aaa.uid);
+      });
     });
 
     describe('when getting instance settings', () => {
@@ -145,6 +163,13 @@ describe('datasource_srv', () => {
         `);
       });
 
+      it('should work with variable via scopedVars', () => {
+        const ds = dataSourceSrv.getInstanceSettings('${datasource}', {
+          datasource: { text: 'Prom', value: 'uid-code-aaa' },
+        });
+        expect(ds?.rawRef?.uid).toBe('uid-code-aaa');
+      });
+
       it('should not set isDefault when being fetched via variable', () => {
         const ds = dataSourceSrv.getInstanceSettings('${datasource}');
         expect(ds?.isDefault).toBe(false);