diff --git a/public/app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap.ts b/public/app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap.ts
index 9d1a2a03b50..df157c60dd3 100644
--- a/public/app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import {
   DataFrameType,
   getFieldDisplayName,
   Field,
+  getValueFormat,
+  formattedValueToString,
 } from '@grafana/data';
 import { ScaleDistribution } from '@grafana/schema';
 
@@ -49,21 +51,24 @@ export function sortAscStrInf(aName?: string | null, bName?: string | null) {
   return parseNumeric(aName) - parseNumeric(bName);
 }
 
-export interface HeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta {
+export interface HeatmapRowsCustomMeta {
   /** This provides the lookup values */
   yOrdinalDisplay: string[];
   yOrdinalLabel?: string[];
   yMatchWithLabel?: string;
+  yZeroDisplay?: string;
 }
 
 /** simple utility to get heatmap metadata from a frame */
-export function readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta(frame?: DataFrame): HeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta {
-  return (frame?.meta?.custom ?? {}) as HeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta;
+export function readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(frame?: DataFrame): HeatmapRowsCustomMeta {
+  return (frame?.meta?.custom ?? {}) as HeatmapRowsCustomMeta;
 }
 
 export interface RowsHeatmapOptions {
   frame: DataFrame;
   value?: string; // the field value name
+  unit?: string;
+  decimals?: number;
   layout?: HeatmapCellLayout;
 }
 
@@ -117,13 +122,35 @@ export function rowsToCellsHeatmap(opts: RowsHeatmapOptions): DataFrame {
       break;
   }
 
-  const custom: HeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta = {
+  const custom: HeatmapRowsCustomMeta = {
     yOrdinalDisplay: yFields.map((f) => getFieldDisplayName(f, opts.frame)),
     yMatchWithLabel: Object.keys(yFields[0].labels ?? {})[0],
   };
   if (custom.yMatchWithLabel) {
     custom.yOrdinalLabel = yFields.map((f) => f.labels?.[custom.yMatchWithLabel!] ?? '');
+    if (custom.yMatchWithLabel === 'le') {
+      custom.yZeroDisplay = '0.0';
+    }
   }
+
+  // Format the labels as a value
+  // TODO: this leaves the internally prepended '0.0' without this formatting treatment
+  if (opts.unit?.length || opts.decimals != null) {
+    const fmt = getValueFormat(opts.unit ?? 'short');
+    if (custom.yZeroDisplay) {
+      custom.yZeroDisplay = formattedValueToString(fmt(0, opts.decimals));
+    }
+    custom.yOrdinalDisplay = custom.yOrdinalDisplay.map((name) => {
+      let num = +name;
+
+      if (!Number.isNaN(num)) {
+        return formattedValueToString(fmt(num, opts.decimals));
+      }
+
+      return name;
+    });
+  }
+
   return {
     length: xs.length,
     refId: opts.frame.refId,
@@ -293,9 +320,6 @@ export function calculateHeatmapFromData(frames: DataFrame[], options: HeatmapCa
   };
 
   //console.timeEnd('calculateHeatmapFromData');
-
-  //console.log({ tiles: frame.length });
-
   return frame;
 }
 
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapHoverView.tsx b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapHoverView.tsx
index 46207be7eb8..5efa2c5fd72 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapHoverView.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapHoverView.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
 import { DataFrameType, Field, FieldType, formattedValueToString, getFieldDisplayName, LinkModel } from '@grafana/data';
 import { LinkButton, VerticalGroup } from '@grafana/ui';
 import { getDashboardSrv } from 'app/features/dashboard/services/DashboardSrv';
-import { readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
+import { readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
 import { HeatmapCellLayout } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/models.gen';
 
 import { DataHoverView } from '../geomap/components/DataHoverView';
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ const HeatmapHoverCell = ({ data, hover, showHistogram }: Props) => {
   const countVals = countField?.values.toArray();
 
   // labeled buckets
-  const meta = readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta(data.heatmap);
+  const meta = readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(data.heatmap);
   const yDispSrc = meta.yOrdinalDisplay ?? yVals;
   const yDisp = yField?.display ? (v: any) => formattedValueToString(yField.display!(v)) : (v: any) => `${v}`;
 
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapPanel.tsx b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapPanel.tsx
index 3f5c8aa1bda..6cafe6d6db1 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapPanel.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/HeatmapPanel.tsx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import {
 } from '@grafana/ui';
 import { CloseButton } from 'app/core/components/CloseButton/CloseButton';
 import { ColorScale } from 'app/core/components/ColorScale/ColorScale';
-import { readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
+import { readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
 
 import { HeatmapHoverView } from './HeatmapHoverView';
 import { prepareHeatmapData } from './fields';
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export const HeatmapPanel: React.FC<HeatmapPanelProps> = ({
     let exemplarsXFacet: number[] = []; // "Time" field
     let exemplarsyFacet: number[] = [];
 
-    const meta = readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta(info.heatmap);
+    const meta = readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(info.heatmap);
     if (info.exemplars?.length && meta.yMatchWithLabel) {
       exemplarsXFacet = info.exemplars?.fields[0].values.toArray();
 
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/fields.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/fields.ts
index 9234d544061..2e50f4e022c 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/fields.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/fields.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,23 @@
 import {
   DataFrame,
   DataFrameType,
+  Field,
+  FieldType,
   formattedValueToString,
   getDisplayProcessor,
-  getValueFormat,
   GrafanaTheme2,
   outerJoinDataFrames,
   PanelData,
+  ValueFormatter,
 } from '@grafana/data';
-import { calculateHeatmapFromData, rowsToCellsHeatmap } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
+import {
+  calculateHeatmapFromData,
+  readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta,
+  rowsToCellsHeatmap,
+} from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
 import { HeatmapCellLayout } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/models.gen';
 
-import { PanelOptions } from './models.gen';
+import { CellValues, PanelOptions } from './models.gen';
 
 export interface HeatmapData {
   heatmap?: DataFrame; // data we will render
@@ -43,8 +49,7 @@ export function prepareHeatmapData(data: PanelData, options: PanelOptions, theme
   const exemplars = data.annotations?.find((f) => f.name === 'exemplar');
 
   if (options.calculate) {
-    // TODO, check for error etc
-    return getHeatmapData(calculateHeatmapFromData(frames, options.calculation ?? {}), exemplars, theme);
+    return getHeatmapData(calculateHeatmapFromData(frames, options.calculation ?? {}), exemplars, options, theme);
   }
 
   // Check for known heatmap types
@@ -52,10 +57,10 @@ export function prepareHeatmapData(data: PanelData, options: PanelOptions, theme
   for (const frame of frames) {
     switch (frame.meta?.type) {
       case DataFrameType.HeatmapSparse:
-        return getSparseHeatmapData(frame, exemplars, theme);
+        return getSparseHeatmapData(frame, exemplars, options, theme);
 
       case DataFrameType.HeatmapCells:
-        return getHeatmapData(frame, exemplars, theme);
+        return getHeatmapData(frame, exemplars, options, theme);
 
       case DataFrameType.HeatmapRows:
         rowsHeatmap = frame; // the default format
@@ -75,12 +80,23 @@ export function prepareHeatmapData(data: PanelData, options: PanelOptions, theme
     }
   }
 
-  return getHeatmapData(rowsToCellsHeatmap({ ...options.rowsFrame, frame: rowsHeatmap }), exemplars, theme);
+  return getHeatmapData(
+    rowsToCellsHeatmap({
+      unit: options.yAxis?.unit, // used to format the ordinal lookup values
+      decimals: options.yAxis?.decimals,
+      ...options.rowsFrame,
+      frame: rowsHeatmap,
+    }),
+    exemplars,
+    options,
+    theme
+  );
 }
 
 const getSparseHeatmapData = (
   frame: DataFrame,
   exemplars: DataFrame | undefined,
+  options: PanelOptions,
   theme: GrafanaTheme2
 ): HeatmapData => {
   if (frame.meta?.type !== DataFrameType.HeatmapSparse) {
@@ -90,7 +106,12 @@ const getSparseHeatmapData = (
     };
   }
 
-  const disp = frame.fields[3].display ?? getValueFormat('short');
+  // y axis tick label display
+  updateFieldDisplay(frame.fields[1], options.yAxis, theme);
+
+  // cell value display
+  const disp = updateFieldDisplay(frame.fields[3], options.cellValues, theme);
+
   return {
     heatmap: frame,
     exemplars,
@@ -98,7 +119,12 @@ const getSparseHeatmapData = (
   };
 };
 
-const getHeatmapData = (frame: DataFrame, exemplars: DataFrame | undefined, theme: GrafanaTheme2): HeatmapData => {
+const getHeatmapData = (
+  frame: DataFrame,
+  exemplars: DataFrame | undefined,
+  options: PanelOptions,
+  theme: GrafanaTheme2
+): HeatmapData => {
   if (frame.meta?.type !== DataFrameType.HeatmapCells) {
     return {
       warning: 'Expected heatmap scanlines format',
@@ -110,11 +136,54 @@ const getHeatmapData = (frame: DataFrame, exemplars: DataFrame | undefined, them
     return { heatmap: frame };
   }
 
-  // Y field values (display is used in the axis)
-  if (!frame.fields[1].display) {
-    frame.fields[1].display = getDisplayProcessor({ field: frame.fields[1], theme });
+  const meta = readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(frame);
+  let xName: string | undefined = undefined;
+  let yName: string | undefined = undefined;
+  let valueField: Field | undefined = undefined;
+
+  // validate field display properties
+  for (const field of frame.fields) {
+    switch (field.name) {
+      case 'y':
+        yName = field.name;
+
+      case 'yMin':
+      case 'yMax': {
+        if (!yName) {
+          yName = field.name;
+        }
+        if (meta.yOrdinalDisplay == null) {
+          updateFieldDisplay(field, options.yAxis, theme);
+        }
+        break;
+      }
+
+      case 'x':
+      case 'xMin':
+      case 'xMax':
+        xName = field.name;
+        break;
+
+      default: {
+        if (field.type === FieldType.number && !valueField) {
+          valueField = field;
+        }
+      }
+    }
   }
 
+  if (!yName) {
+    return { warning: 'Missing Y field', heatmap: frame };
+  }
+  if (!yName) {
+    return { warning: 'Missing X field', heatmap: frame };
+  }
+  if (!valueField) {
+    return { warning: 'Missing value field', heatmap: frame };
+  }
+
+  const disp = updateFieldDisplay(valueField, options.cellValues, theme);
+
   // infer bucket sizes from data (for now)
   // the 'heatmap-scanlines' dense frame format looks like:
   // x:      1,1,1,1,2,2,2,2
@@ -132,11 +201,6 @@ const getHeatmapData = (frame: DataFrame, exemplars: DataFrame | undefined, them
   let yBinIncr = ys[1] - ys[0];
   let xBinIncr = xs[yBinQty] - xs[0];
 
-  // The "count" field
-  const disp = frame.fields[2].display ?? getValueFormat('short');
-  const xName = frame.fields[0].name;
-  const yName = frame.fields[1].name;
-
   const data: HeatmapData = {
     heatmap: frame,
     exemplars: exemplars?.length ? exemplars : undefined,
@@ -156,3 +220,21 @@ const getHeatmapData = (frame: DataFrame, exemplars: DataFrame | undefined, them
 
   return data;
 };
+
+function updateFieldDisplay(field: Field, opts: CellValues | undefined, theme: GrafanaTheme2): ValueFormatter {
+  if (opts?.unit?.length || opts?.decimals != null) {
+    const { unit, decimals } = opts;
+    field.display = undefined;
+    field.config = { ...field.config };
+    if (unit?.length) {
+      field.config.unit = unit;
+    }
+    if (decimals != null) {
+      field.config.decimals = decimals;
+    }
+  }
+  if (!field.display) {
+    field.display = getDisplayProcessor({ field, theme });
+  }
+  return field.display;
+}
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.test.ts
index fae97bea3ce..44f92e3851a 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.test.ts
@@ -21,10 +21,7 @@ describe('Heatmap Migrations', () => {
     expect(panel).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       Object {
         "fieldConfig": Object {
-          "defaults": Object {
-            "decimals": 6,
-            "unit": "short",
-          },
+          "defaults": Object {},
           "overrides": Array [],
         },
         "options": Object {
@@ -45,6 +42,9 @@ describe('Heatmap Migrations', () => {
           },
           "cellGap": 2,
           "cellRadius": 10,
+          "cellValues": Object {
+            "decimals": undefined,
+          },
           "color": Object {
             "exponent": 0.5,
             "fill": "dark-orange",
@@ -75,9 +75,11 @@ describe('Heatmap Migrations', () => {
           "yAxis": Object {
             "axisPlacement": "left",
             "axisWidth": 400,
+            "decimals": 6,
             "max": 22,
             "min": 7,
             "reverse": false,
+            "unit": "short",
           },
         },
       }
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.ts
index 40cd601a67d..915a4dfe010 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/migrations.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ import {
 import { PanelOptions, defaultPanelOptions, HeatmapColorMode } from './models.gen';
 import { colorSchemes } from './palettes';
 
+/** Called when the version number changes */
+export const heatmapMigrationHandler = (panel: PanelModel): Partial<PanelOptions> => {
+  // Migrating from angular
+  if (Object.keys(panel.options).length === 0) {
+    return heatmapChangedHandler(panel, 'heatmap', { angular: panel }, panel.fieldConfig);
+  }
+  return panel.options;
+};
+
 /**
  * This is called when the panel changes from another panel
  */
@@ -21,6 +30,14 @@ export const heatmapChangedHandler: PanelTypeChangedHandler = (panel, prevPlugin
     panel.fieldConfig = fieldConfig; // Mutates the incoming panel
     return options;
   }
+  // alpha for 8.5+, then beta at 9.0.1
+  if (prevPluginId === 'heatmap-new') {
+    const { bucketFrame, ...options } = panel.options;
+    if (bucketFrame) {
+      return { ...options, rowsFrame: bucketFrame };
+    }
+    return panel.options;
+  }
   return {};
 };
 
@@ -60,9 +77,6 @@ export function angularToReactHeatmap(angular: any): { fieldConfig: FieldConfigS
         },
       };
     }
-
-    fieldConfig.defaults.unit = oldYAxis.format;
-    fieldConfig.defaults.decimals = oldYAxis.decimals;
   }
 
   const options: PanelOptions = {
@@ -77,9 +91,14 @@ export function angularToReactHeatmap(angular: any): { fieldConfig: FieldConfigS
     yAxis: {
       axisPlacement: oldYAxis.show === false ? AxisPlacement.Hidden : AxisPlacement.Left,
       reverse: Boolean(angular.reverseYBuckets),
-      axisWidth: oldYAxis.width ? +oldYAxis.width : undefined,
+      axisWidth: asNumber(oldYAxis.width),
       min: oldYAxis.min,
       max: oldYAxis.max,
+      unit: oldYAxis.format,
+      decimals: oldYAxis.decimals,
+    },
+    cellValues: {
+      decimals: asNumber(angular.tooltipDecimals),
     },
     rowsFrame: {
       layout: getHeatmapCellLayout(angular.yBucketBound),
@@ -146,11 +165,3 @@ function asNumber(v: any, defaultValue?: number): number | undefined {
   const num = +v;
   return isNaN(num) ? defaultValue : num;
 }
-
-export const heatmapMigrationHandler = (panel: PanelModel): Partial<PanelOptions> => {
-  // Migrating from angular
-  if (!panel.pluginVersion && Object.keys(panel.options).length === 0) {
-    return heatmapChangedHandler(panel, 'heatmap', { angular: panel }, panel.fieldConfig);
-  }
-  return panel.options;
-};
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/models.gen.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/models.gen.ts
index dc5fdbe44bf..9b97a10fb75 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/models.gen.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/models.gen.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ export interface YAxisConfig extends AxisConfig {
   max?: number;
 }
 
+export interface CellValues {
+  unit?: string;
+  decimals?: number;
+}
+
 export interface FilterValueRange {
   le?: number;
   ge?: number;
@@ -72,8 +77,10 @@ export interface PanelOptions {
 
   cellGap?: number; // was cardPadding
   cellRadius?: number; // was cardRadius (not used, but migrated from angular)
-
+  cellValues?: CellValues;
+  
   yAxis: YAxisConfig;
+  
   legend: HeatmapLegend;
 
   tooltip: HeatmapTooltip;
@@ -95,6 +102,9 @@ export const defaultPanelOptions: PanelOptions = {
   },
   yAxis: {
     axisPlacement: AxisPlacement.Left,
+  },
+  cellValues: {
+
   },
   showValue: VisibilityMode.Auto,
   tooltip: {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/module.tsx b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/module.tsx
index 5a4e225eafa..7d4f81db27a 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/module.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/module.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { AxisPlacement, GraphFieldConfig, ScaleDistribution, ScaleDistributionCo
 import { addHideFrom, ScaleDistributionEditor } from '@grafana/ui/src/options/builder';
 import { ColorScale } from 'app/core/components/ColorScale/ColorScale';
 import { addHeatmapCalculationOptions } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/editor/helper';
-import { readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
+import { readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
 import { HeatmapCellLayout } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/models.gen';
 
 import { HeatmapPanel } from './HeatmapPanel';
@@ -18,15 +18,7 @@ import { HeatmapSuggestionsSupplier } from './suggestions';
 
 export const plugin = new PanelPlugin<PanelOptions, GraphFieldConfig>(HeatmapPanel)
   .useFieldConfig({
-    // This keeps: unit, decimals, displayName
-    disableStandardOptions: [
-      FieldConfigProperty.Color,
-      FieldConfigProperty.Thresholds,
-      FieldConfigProperty.Min,
-      FieldConfigProperty.Max,
-      FieldConfigProperty.Mappings,
-      FieldConfigProperty.NoValue,
-    ],
+    disableStandardOptions: Object.values(FieldConfigProperty).filter((v) => v !== FieldConfigProperty.Links),
     useCustomConfig: (builder) => {
       builder.addCustomEditor<void, ScaleDistributionConfig>({
         id: 'scaleDistribution',
@@ -52,7 +44,7 @@ export const plugin = new PanelPlugin<PanelOptions, GraphFieldConfig>(HeatmapPan
 
     try {
       const v = prepareHeatmapData({ series: context.data } as PanelData, opts, config.theme2);
-      isOrdinalY = readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta(v.heatmap).yOrdinalDisplay != null;
+      isOrdinalY = readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(v.heatmap).yOrdinalDisplay != null;
     } catch {}
 
     let category = ['Heatmap'];
@@ -90,6 +82,22 @@ export const plugin = new PanelPlugin<PanelOptions, GraphFieldConfig>(HeatmapPan
       },
     });
 
+    builder
+      .addUnitPicker({
+        category,
+        path: 'yAxis.unit',
+        name: 'Unit',
+        defaultValue: undefined,
+      })
+      .addNumberInput({
+        category,
+        path: 'yAxis.decimals',
+        name: 'Decimals',
+        settings: {
+          placeholder: 'Auto',
+        },
+      });
+
     if (!isOrdinalY) {
       // if undefined, then show the min+max
       builder
@@ -269,7 +277,35 @@ export const plugin = new PanelPlugin<PanelOptions, GraphFieldConfig>(HeatmapPan
         category,
       });
 
-    category = ['Display'];
+    category = ['Cell display'];
+
+    if (!opts.calculate) {
+      builder.addTextInput({
+        path: 'rowsFrame.value',
+        name: 'Value name',
+        defaultValue: defaultPanelOptions.rowsFrame?.value,
+        settings: {
+          placeholder: 'Value',
+        },
+        category,
+      });
+    }
+
+    builder
+      .addUnitPicker({
+        category,
+        path: 'cellValues.unit',
+        name: 'Unit',
+        defaultValue: undefined,
+      })
+      .addNumberInput({
+        category,
+        path: 'cellValues.decimals',
+        name: 'Decimals',
+        settings: {
+          placeholder: 'Auto',
+        },
+      });
 
     builder
       // .addRadio({
@@ -333,18 +369,6 @@ export const plugin = new PanelPlugin<PanelOptions, GraphFieldConfig>(HeatmapPan
       category,
     });
 
-    if (!opts.calculate) {
-      builder.addTextInput({
-        path: 'rowsFrame.value',
-        name: 'Cell value name',
-        defaultValue: defaultPanelOptions.rowsFrame?.value,
-        settings: {
-          placeholder: 'Value',
-        },
-        category,
-      });
-    }
-
     builder.addBooleanSwitch({
       path: 'tooltip.yHistogram',
       name: 'Show histogram (Y axis)',
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/utils.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/utils.ts
index 546c15432fe..9132037e1c4 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/utils.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/heatmap-new/utils.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import {
 } from '@grafana/data';
 import { AxisPlacement, ScaleDirection, ScaleDistribution, ScaleOrientation } from '@grafana/schema';
 import { UPlotConfigBuilder } from '@grafana/ui';
-import { readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
+import { readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/heatmap';
 import { HeatmapCellLayout } from 'app/features/transformers/calculateHeatmap/models.gen';
 
 import { pointWithin, Quadtree, Rect } from '../barchart/quadtree';
@@ -256,11 +256,16 @@ export function prepConfig(opts: PrepConfigOpts) {
     theme: theme,
   });
 
-  const yFieldConfig = dataRef.current?.heatmap?.fields[1]?.config?.custom as PanelFieldConfig | undefined;
+  const yField = dataRef.current?.heatmap?.fields[1]!;
+  if (!yField) {
+    return builder; // early abort (avoids error)
+  }
+
+  const yFieldConfig = yField.config?.custom as PanelFieldConfig | undefined;
   const yScale = yFieldConfig?.scaleDistribution ?? { type: ScaleDistribution.Linear };
   const yAxisReverse = Boolean(yAxisConfig.reverse);
   const shouldUseLogScale = yScale.type !== ScaleDistribution.Linear || heatmapType === DataFrameType.HeatmapSparse;
-  const isOrdianalY = readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta(dataRef.current?.heatmap).yOrdinalDisplay != null;
+  const isOrdianalY = readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(dataRef.current?.heatmap).yOrdinalDisplay != null;
 
   // random to prevent syncing y in other heatmaps
   // TODO: try to match TimeSeries y keygen algo to sync with TimeSeries panels (when not isOrdianalY)
@@ -383,7 +388,7 @@ export function prepConfig(opts: PrepConfigOpts) {
           },
   });
 
-  const disp = dataRef.current?.heatmap?.fields[1].display ?? getValueFormat('short');
+  const dispY = yField.display ?? getValueFormat('short');
 
   builder.addAxis({
     scaleKey: yScaleKey,
@@ -392,10 +397,10 @@ export function prepConfig(opts: PrepConfigOpts) {
     size: yAxisConfig.axisWidth || null,
     label: yAxisConfig.axisLabel,
     theme: theme,
-    formatValue: (v: any) => formattedValueToString(disp(v)),
+    formatValue: (v: any) => formattedValueToString(dispY(v)),
     splits: isOrdianalY
       ? (self: uPlot) => {
-          const meta = readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta(dataRef.current?.heatmap);
+          const meta = readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(dataRef.current?.heatmap);
           if (!meta.yOrdinalDisplay) {
             return [0, 1]; //?
           }
@@ -423,20 +428,15 @@ export function prepConfig(opts: PrepConfigOpts) {
       : undefined,
     values: isOrdianalY
       ? (self: uPlot, splits) => {
-          const meta = readHeatmapScanlinesCustomMeta(dataRef.current?.heatmap);
+          const meta = readHeatmapRowsCustomMeta(dataRef.current?.heatmap);
           if (meta.yOrdinalDisplay) {
-            return splits.map((v) => {
-              const txt = meta.yOrdinalDisplay[v];
-              if (!txt && v < 0) {
-                // Check prometheus style labels
-                if ('le' === meta.yMatchWithLabel) {
-                  return '0.0';
-                }
-              }
-              return txt;
-            });
+            return splits.map((v) =>
+              v < 0
+                ? meta.yZeroDisplay ?? '' // Check prometheus style labels
+                : meta.yOrdinalDisplay[v] ?? ''
+            );
           }
-          return splits.map((v) => `${v}`);
+          return splits;
         }
       : undefined,
   });