diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/__snapshots__/utils.test.ts.snap b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/__snapshots__/utils.test.ts.snap
index 922b7514309..17707f4aa6c 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/__snapshots__/utils.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/__snapshots__/utils.test.ts.snap
@@ -94,9 +94,18 @@ exports[`TableNG utils buildInspectValue should handle string 1`] = `
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`TableNG utils buildInspectValue should handle string w/ JSON (invalid JSON) 1`] = `
+[
+  ""{\\"invalid\\": \\"json"",
+  "code",
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`TableNG utils buildInspectValue should handle string w/ JSON 1`] = `
 [
-  ""baz"",
+  "{
+  "valid": "json"
+}",
   "code",
 ]
 `;
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.test.ts b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.test.ts
index 02527df8540..7d8c81961db 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.test.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.test.ts
@@ -1619,6 +1619,7 @@ describe('TableNG utils', () => {
     };
     const jsonStringField: Field = {
       ...stringField,
+      values: ['{"valid": "json"}', '{"invalid": "json', null, '{"another": "one"}'],
       config: { custom: { cellOptions: { type: TableCellDisplayMode.JSONView } } },
     };
     const booleanField: Field = {
@@ -1675,11 +1676,12 @@ describe('TableNG utils', () => {
     it.each([
       { name: 'numbers', input: { valueIdx: 0, field: numberFieldWithNulls } },
       { name: 'string', input: { valueIdx: 0, field: stringField } },
-      { name: 'string w/ JSON', input: { valueIdx: 2, field: jsonStringField } },
+      { name: 'string w/ JSON', input: { valueIdx: 0, field: jsonStringField } },
+      { name: 'string w/ JSON (invalid JSON)', input: { valueIdx: 1, field: jsonStringField } },
       { name: 'boolean', input: { valueIdx: 0, field: booleanField } },
       { name: 'NaN', input: { valueIdx: 4, field: numberFieldWithNulls } },
       { name: 'null', input: { valueIdx: 3, field: numberFieldWithNulls } },
-      { name: 'null w/ JSON', input: { valueIdx: 3, field: jsonStringField } },
+      { name: 'null w/ JSON', input: { valueIdx: 2, field: jsonStringField } },
       { name: 'undefined', input: { valueIdx: 6, field: numberFieldWithNulls } },
       { name: 'sparkline', input: { valueIdx: 0, field: sparklineField } },
       { name: 'sparkline (no x)', input: { valueIdx: 0, field: sparklineFieldNoX } },
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.ts b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.ts
index eb608ce2548..0226f8b6463 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Table/TableNG/utils.ts
@@ -1049,7 +1049,15 @@ export function buildInspectValue(value: unknown, field: Field): [string, TableC
     inspectValue += ']';
     mode = TableCellInspectorMode.code;
   } else if (cellOptions.type === TableCellDisplayMode.JSONView || Array.isArray(value) || isPlainObject(value)) {
-    inspectValue = JSON.stringify(value, null, '  ');
+    let toStringify = value;
+    if (typeof value === 'string') {
+      try {
+        toStringify = JSON.parse(value);
+      } catch {
+        // do nothing, toStringify will stay as the raw string
+      }
+    }
+    inspectValue = JSON.stringify(toStringify, null, '  ');
     mode = TableCellInspectorMode.code;
   } else {
     inspectValue = String(value ?? '');