diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.test.ts b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.test.ts
index 2c23db035fd..28aedeaf091 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.test.ts
@@ -156,6 +156,35 @@ describe('rule-editor', () => {
       expect(rewiredQueries[1]).toEqual(queries[1]);
       expect(rewiredQueries[2]).toEqual(queries[2]);
     });
+
+    it('should not rewire non-referencing expressions', () => {
+      const dataSource1 = { ...dataSource, refId: 'Q1' };
+      const dataSource2 = { ...dataSource, refId: 'Q2' };
+      const condition1 = {
+        ...classicCondition,
+        refId: 'A',
+        model: {
+          ...classicCondition.model,
+          conditions: [
+            {
+              ...classicCondition.model.conditions[0],
+              query: { params: ['Q1'] },
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      };
+      const condition2 = { ...reduceExpression, refId: 'B', model: { ...reduceExpression.model, expression: 'Q1' } };
+      const condition3 = { ...mathExpression, refId: 'C', model: { ...mathExpression.model, expression: '${Q1}' } };
+
+      const queries: AlertQuery[] = [dataSource1, dataSource2, condition1, condition2, condition3];
+      const rewiredQueries = queriesWithUpdatedReferences(queries, 'Q2', 'Q3');
+
+      expect(rewiredQueries[0]).toEqual(queries[0]);
+      expect(rewiredQueries[1]).toEqual(queries[1]);
+      expect(rewiredQueries[2]).toEqual(queries[2]);
+      expect(rewiredQueries[3]).toEqual(queries[3]);
+      expect(rewiredQueries[4]).toEqual(queries[4]);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('updateMathExpressionRefs', () => {
@@ -165,5 +194,8 @@ describe('rule-editor', () => {
     it('should rewire refs with brackets', () => {
       expect(updateMathExpressionRefs('abs(${Foo}) + $Foo', 'Foo', 'Bar')).toBe('abs(${Bar}) + ${Bar}');
     });
+    it('should not rewire refs with partial variable match', () => {
+      expect(updateMathExpressionRefs('$A3 + $B', 'A', 'C')).toBe('$A3 + $B');
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.ts b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.ts
index e49bf28c191..04e488b2d1f 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/util.ts
@@ -31,11 +31,13 @@ export function queriesWithUpdatedReferences(
     }
 
     if (isResampleExpression || isReduceExpression) {
+      const isReferencing = query.model.expression === previousRefId;
+
       return {
         ...query,
         model: {
           ...query.model,
-          expression: newRefId,
+          expression: isReferencing ? newRefId : query.model.expression,
         },
       };
     }
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ export function queriesWithUpdatedReferences(
 }
 
 export function updateMathExpressionRefs(expression: string, previousRefId: string, newRefId: string): string {
-  const oldExpression = new RegExp('\\${?' + previousRefId + '}?', 'gm');
+  const oldExpression = new RegExp('(\\$' + previousRefId + '\\b)|(\\${' + previousRefId + '})', 'gm');
   const newExpression = '${' + newRefId + '}';
 
   return expression.replace(oldExpression, newExpression);