diff --git a/public/app/features/templating/variable.ts b/public/app/features/templating/variable.ts
index 1994e86eff0..930d2c49228 100644
--- a/public/app/features/templating/variable.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/templating/variable.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import _ from 'lodash';
 import { assignModelProperties } from 'app/core/utils/model_utils';
 
 /*
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ export { assignModelProperties };
 
 export function containsVariable(...args: any[]) {
   const variableName = args[args.length - 1];
+  args[0] = _.isString(args[0]) ? args[0] : Object['values'](args[0]).join(' ');
   const variableString = args.slice(0, -1).join(' ');
   const matches = variableString.match(variableRegex);
   const isMatchingVariable =