diff --git a/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/connection.go b/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/connection.go
index 2d26b2dd875..ced60d0d106 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/connection.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/connection.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 // +k8s:deepcopy-gen:interfaces=k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime.Object
 type DataSourceConnection struct {
 	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitzero,omitempty"`
 
 	// The configured display name
 	Title string `json:"title"`
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ type DataSourceConnectionRef struct {
 	Group   string `json:"group"`
 	Version string `json:"version"`
 	Name    string `json:"name"`
-
-	// The plugin -- NOTE, this has a 1:1 mapping with apiGroup and should likely be removed
-	Plugin string `json:"plugin"`
 }
 
 // The valid connection name for a group + identifier
@@ -39,7 +36,7 @@ func DataSourceConnectionName(group, name string) string {
 // +k8s:deepcopy-gen:interfaces=k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime.Object
 type DataSourceConnectionList struct {
 	metav1.TypeMeta `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitzero,omitempty"`
 
 	Items []DataSourceConnection `json:"items"`
 }
@@ -61,7 +58,7 @@ type DataSourceApiServerRegistry interface {
 // +k8s:deepcopy-gen:interfaces=k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime.Object
 type DataSourceApiServer struct {
 	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitzero,omitempty"`
 
 	// The display name
 	Title string `json:"title"`
@@ -80,7 +77,7 @@ type DataSourceApiServer struct {
 // +k8s:deepcopy-gen:interfaces=k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime.Object
 type DataSourceApiServerList struct {
 	metav1.TypeMeta `json:",inline"`
-	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
+	metav1.ListMeta `json:"metadata,omitzero,omitempty"`
 
 	Items []DataSourceApiServer `json:"items"`
 }
diff --git a/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go b/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go
index 3a9a88f1c7a..2ee9ed95395 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go
@@ -276,16 +276,8 @@ func schema_pkg_apis_query_v0alpha1_DataSourceConnectionRef(ref common.Reference
 							Format:  "",
 						},
 					},
-					"plugin": {
-						SchemaProps: spec.SchemaProps{
-							Description: "The plugin -- NOTE, this has a 1:1 mapping with apiGroup and should likely be removed",
-							Default:     "",
-							Type:        []string{"string"},
-							Format:      "",
-						},
-					},
 				},
-				Required: []string{"group", "version", "name", "plugin"},
+				Required: []string{"group", "version", "name"},
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi_violation_exceptions.list b/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi_violation_exceptions.list
index 85c5a768907..f2a822d96dc 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi_violation_exceptions.list
+++ b/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi_violation_exceptions.list
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
 API rule violation: list_type_missing,github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1,DataSourceApiServer,AliasIDs
+API rule violation: streaming_list_type_json_tags,github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1,DataSourceApiServerList,ListMeta
+API rule violation: streaming_list_type_json_tags,github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apis/query/v0alpha1,DataSourceConnectionList,ListMeta
diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/query/connections.go b/pkg/registry/apis/query/connections.go
index 5b130a9bd9a..56829a2130e 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apis/query/connections.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/query/connections.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/internalversion"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest"
 
@@ -105,13 +104,13 @@ func (q *connectionsProvider) GetConnection(ctx context.Context, namespace strin
 }
 
 func (q *connectionsProvider) ListConnections(ctx context.Context, namespace string) (*queryV0.DataSourceConnectionList, error) {
-	info, err := authlib.ParseNamespace(namespace)
+	ns, err := authlib.ParseNamespace(namespace)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	dss, err := q.dsService.GetDataSources(ctx, &datasources.GetDataSourcesQuery{
-		OrgID:           info.OrgID,
+		OrgID:           ns.OrgID,
 		DataSourceLimit: 10000,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -121,7 +120,6 @@ func (q *connectionsProvider) ListConnections(ctx context.Context, namespace str
 		Items: []queryV0.DataSourceConnection{},
 	}
 	for _, ds := range dss {
-		// TODO, access control?!
 		v, err := q.asConnection(ds, namespace)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
@@ -134,12 +132,7 @@ func (q *connectionsProvider) ListConnections(ctx context.Context, namespace str
 func (q *connectionsProvider) asConnection(ds *datasources.DataSource, ns string) (v *queryV0.DataSourceConnection, err error) {
 	gv, err := q.registry.GetDatasourceGroupVersion(ds.Type)
 	if err != nil {
-		// how does this happen? (grafana-e2etest-datasource)
-		gv = schema.GroupVersion{
-			Group:   "unknown-" + ds.Type,
-			Version: "unknown",
-		}
-		err = nil
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("datasource type %q does not map to an apiserver %w", ds.Type, err)
 	}
 
 	v = &queryV0.DataSourceConnection{
@@ -155,7 +148,6 @@ func (q *connectionsProvider) asConnection(ds *datasources.DataSource, ns string
 			Group:   gv.Group,
 			Version: gv.Version,
 			Name:    ds.UID,
-			Plugin:  ds.Type,
 		},
 	}
 	v.UID = gapiutil.CalculateClusterWideUID(v) // indicates if the value changed on the server