diff --git a/conf/defaults.ini b/conf/defaults.ini
index 28c0e509fb4..afa99c701b2 100644
--- a/conf/defaults.ini
+++ b/conf/defaults.ini
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ interval_seconds  = 60
 # Send internal Grafana metrics to graphite
 ; [metrics.graphite]
 ; address = localhost:2003
-; prefix = service.grafana.%(instance_name)s
+; prefix = service.grafana.%(instance_name)s.
 
 [grafana_net]
 url = https://grafana.net
diff --git a/conf/sample.ini b/conf/sample.ini
index 80ca033f035..8fffcf9b7c9 100644
--- a/conf/sample.ini
+++ b/conf/sample.ini
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ enabled           = true
 # Send internal metrics to Graphite
 ; [metrics.graphite]
 ; address = localhost:2003
-; prefix = service.grafana.%(instance_name)s
+; prefix = service.grafana.%(instance_name)s.
 
 #################################### Internal Grafana Metrics ##########################
 # Url used to to import dashboards directly from Grafana.net
diff --git a/docs/sources/plugins/development.md b/docs/sources/plugins/development.md
index 29dcd0568e3..6d2106fad01 100644
--- a/docs/sources/plugins/development.md
+++ b/docs/sources/plugins/development.md
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ will be expected to export different things. You can find what's expected for [d
 and [apps](./apps.md) plugins in the documentation.
 
 ## Start developing your plugin
-There are two ways that you can start developing a Grafana plugin.
+There are three ways that you can start developing a Grafana plugin.
 
 1. Setup a Grafana development environment. [(described here)](http://docs.grafana.org/project/building_from_source/) and place your plugin in the ```data/plugins``` folder.
 2. Install Grafana and place your plugin in the plugins directory which is set in your [config file](../installation/configuration.md). By default this is `/var/lib/grafana/plugins` on Linux systems.
diff --git a/pkg/metrics/graphite.go b/pkg/metrics/graphite.go
index 2b3da3e490c..bbd5696c85d 100644
--- a/pkg/metrics/graphite.go
+++ b/pkg/metrics/graphite.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ type GraphitePublisher struct {
 func CreateGraphitePublisher() (*GraphitePublisher, error) {
 	graphiteSection, err := setting.Cfg.GetSection("metrics.graphite")
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, nil
 	}
 
 	publisher := &GraphitePublisher{}
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func CreateGraphitePublisher() (*GraphitePublisher, error) {
 	prefix := graphiteSection.Key("prefix").Value()
 
 	if prefix == "" {
-		prefix = "service.grafana.%(instance_name)s"
+		prefix = "service.grafana.%(instance_name)s."
 	}
 
 	publisher.prefix = strings.Replace(prefix, "%(instance_name)s", safeInstanceName, -1)
diff --git a/pkg/metrics/graphite_test.go b/pkg/metrics/graphite_test.go
index 31620bdd161..8ecee9449a5 100644
--- a/pkg/metrics/graphite_test.go
+++ b/pkg/metrics/graphite_test.go
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ func TestGraphitePublisher(t *testing.T) {
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 		sec, err := setting.Cfg.NewSection("metrics.graphite")
-		sec.NewKey("prefix", "service.grafana.%(instance_name)s")
-		sec.NewKey("address", "localhost:2003")
+		sec.NewKey("prefix", "service.grafana.%(instance_name)s.")
+		sec.NewKey("address", "localhost:2001")
 
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ func TestGraphitePublisher(t *testing.T) {
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		So(publisher, ShouldNotBeNil)
 
-		So(publisher.prefix, ShouldEqual, "service.grafana.hostname_with_dots_com")
+		So(publisher.prefix, ShouldEqual, "service.grafana.hostname_with_dots_com.")
+		So(publisher.address, ShouldEqual, "localhost:2001")
 	})
 
 	Convey("Test graphite publisher default values", t, func() {
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ func TestGraphitePublisher(t *testing.T) {
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		So(publisher, ShouldNotBeNil)
 
-		So(publisher.prefix, ShouldEqual, "service.grafana.hostname_with_dots_com")
+		So(publisher.prefix, ShouldEqual, "service.grafana.hostname_with_dots_com.")
 		So(publisher.address, ShouldEqual, "localhost:2003")
 	})
 }