diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/influx_series.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/influx_series.ts
index d2a8482eced..10c1584f488 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/influx_series.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/influx_series.ts
@@ -99,9 +99,6 @@ export default class InfluxSeries {
         if (column === 'sequence_number') {
           return;
         }
-        if (!titleCol) {
-          titleCol = index;
-        }
         if (column === this.annotation.titleColumn) {
           titleCol = index;
           return;
@@ -114,6 +111,10 @@ export default class InfluxSeries {
           textCol = index;
           return;
         }
+        // legacy case
+        if (!titleCol && textCol !== index) {
+          titleCol = index;
+        }
       });
 
       _.each(series.values, value => {