diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.test.ts
index 5d19c2dc216..c322768f166 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.test.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,14 @@ describe('variableQueryMigrations', () => {
           expect(query.dimensionFilters).toStrictEqual({});
         });
       });
+      describe('and filter value is an empty array', () => {
+        it('should leave an empty filter', () => {
+          const query = migrateVariableQuery(
+            'dimension_values(us-east-1,AWS/RDS,CPUUtilization,DBInstanceIdentifier, [])'
+          );
+          expect(query.dimensionFilters).toStrictEqual({});
+        });
+      });
       describe('and filter param is defined by user', () => {
         it('should use the user defined filter', () => {
           const query = migrateVariableQuery(
@@ -60,6 +68,10 @@ describe('variableQueryMigrations', () => {
       expect(query.resourceType).toBe('elasticloadbalancing:loadbalancer');
       expect(query.tags).toStrictEqual({ 'elasticbeanstalk:environment-name': ['myApp-dev', 'myApp-prod'] });
     });
+    it('should parse a empty array for tags', () => {
+      const query = migrateVariableQuery('resource_arns(eu-west-1,elasticloadbalancing:loadbalancer, [])');
+      expect(query.tags).toStrictEqual({});
+    });
   });
   describe('when ec2_instance_attribute query is used', () => {
     it('should parse the query', () => {
@@ -69,6 +81,10 @@ describe('variableQueryMigrations', () => {
       expect(query.attributeName).toBe('rds:db');
       expect(query.ec2Filters).toStrictEqual({ environment: ['$environment'] });
     });
+    it('should parse an empty array for filters', () => {
+      const query = migrateVariableQuery('ec2_instance_attribute(us-east-1,rds:db,[])');
+      expect(query.ec2Filters).toStrictEqual({});
+    });
   });
   describe('when OldVariableQuery is used', () => {
     const baseOldQuery: OldVariableQuery = {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.ts
index add19cbfbcb..260a2a259df 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/migrations/variableQueryMigrations.ts
@@ -18,21 +18,21 @@ export function migrateVariableQuery(rawQuery: string | VariableQuery | OldVaria
     newQuery.ec2Filters = {};
     newQuery.tags = {};
 
-    if (rawQuery.dimensionFilters !== '') {
+    if (rawQuery.dimensionFilters !== '' && rawQuery.ec2Filters !== '[]') {
       try {
         newQuery.dimensionFilters = JSON.parse(rawQuery.dimensionFilters);
       } catch {
         throw new Error(`unable to migrate poorly formed filters: ${rawQuery.dimensionFilters}`);
       }
     }
-    if (rawQuery.ec2Filters !== '') {
+    if (rawQuery.ec2Filters !== '' && rawQuery.ec2Filters !== '[]') {
       try {
         newQuery.ec2Filters = JSON.parse(rawQuery.ec2Filters);
       } catch {
         throw new Error(`unable to migrate poorly formed filters: ${rawQuery.ec2Filters}`);
       }
     }
-    if (rawQuery.tags !== '') {
+    if (rawQuery.tags !== '' && rawQuery.tags !== '[]') {
       try {
         newQuery.tags = JSON.parse(rawQuery.tags);
       } catch {
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ export function migrateVariableQuery(rawQuery: string | VariableQuery | OldVaria
     newQuery.metricName = dimensionValuesQuery[3];
     newQuery.dimensionKey = dimensionValuesQuery[4];
     newQuery.dimensionFilters = {};
-    if (!!dimensionValuesQuery[6]) {
+    if (!!dimensionValuesQuery[6] && dimensionValuesQuery[6] !== '[]') {
       try {
         newQuery.dimensionFilters = JSON.parse(dimensionValuesQuery[6]);
       } catch {
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ export function migrateVariableQuery(rawQuery: string | VariableQuery | OldVaria
     newQuery.queryType = VariableQueryType.EC2InstanceAttributes;
     newQuery.region = ec2InstanceAttributeQuery[1];
     newQuery.attributeName = ec2InstanceAttributeQuery[2];
-    if (ec2InstanceAttributeQuery[3]) {
+    if (ec2InstanceAttributeQuery[3] && ec2InstanceAttributeQuery[3] !== '[]') {
       try {
         newQuery.ec2Filters = JSON.parse(ec2InstanceAttributeQuery[3]);
       } catch {
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ export function migrateVariableQuery(rawQuery: string | VariableQuery | OldVaria
     newQuery.queryType = VariableQueryType.ResourceArns;
     newQuery.region = resourceARNsQuery[1];
     newQuery.resourceType = resourceARNsQuery[2];
-    if (resourceARNsQuery[3]) {
+    if (resourceARNsQuery[3] && resourceARNsQuery[3] !== '[]') {
       try {
         newQuery.tags = JSON.parse(resourceARNsQuery[3]);
       } catch {