diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts
index b15c8d6146a..8f94d69efc6 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ export class TempoDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<TempoQuery, TempoJson
 
     return {
       ...expandedQuery,
-      query: this.templateSrv.replace(query.query ?? '', scopedVars, VariableFormatID.Pipe),
+      query: this.templateSrv.replace(query.query ?? '{}', scopedVars, VariableFormatID.Pipe),
       serviceMapQuery: Array.isArray(query.serviceMapQuery)
         ? query.serviceMapQuery.map((query) => this.templateSrv.replace(query, scopedVars))
         : this.templateSrv.replace(query.serviceMapQuery ?? '', scopedVars),