diff --git a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.test.tsx b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.test.tsx
index 46a1396aaa3..4397d4104de 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.test.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
 
 import '@testing-library/jest-dom';
+
 import { DataSourceInstanceSettings, MetricFindValue } from '@grafana/data';
+import { config } from '@grafana/runtime';
 
 import { PrometheusDatasource } from '../../datasource';
 import { PromOptions } from '../../types';
@@ -124,4 +126,30 @@ describe('MetricCombobox', () => {
 
     expect(mockOnChange).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ metric: 'random_metric', labels: [], operations: [] });
   });
+
+  it("doesn't show the metrics explorer button by default", () => {
+    render(<MetricCombobox {...defaultProps} />);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('button', { name: /open metrics explorer/i })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  describe('when metrics explorer toggle is enabled', () => {
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      jest.replaceProperty(config, 'featureToggles', {
+        prometheusMetricEncyclopedia: true,
+      });
+    });
+
+    afterAll(() => {
+      jest.restoreAllMocks();
+    });
+
+    it('opens the metrics explorer when the button is clicked', async () => {
+      render(<MetricCombobox {...defaultProps} onGetMetrics={() => Promise.resolve([])} />);
+
+      const button = screen.getByRole('button', { name: /open metrics explorer/i });
+      await userEvent.click(button);
+
+      expect(screen.getByText('Metrics explorer')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.tsx b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.tsx
index 796b794b6c3..26b55f30087 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/MetricCombobox.tsx
@@ -1,14 +1,18 @@
-import { useCallback } from 'react';
+import { useCallback, useState } from 'react';
 
 import { SelectableValue } from '@grafana/data';
-import { EditorField, EditorFieldGroup } from '@grafana/experimental';
-import { InlineField, InlineFieldRow, Combobox, ComboboxOption } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { EditorField, EditorFieldGroup, InputGroup } from '@grafana/experimental';
+import { config } from '@grafana/runtime';
+import { Button, InlineField, InlineFieldRow } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { Combobox, ComboboxOption } from '@grafana/ui/src/components/Combobox/Combobox';
 
 import { PrometheusDatasource } from '../../datasource';
 import { regexifyLabelValuesQueryString } from '../parsingUtils';
 import { QueryBuilderLabelFilter } from '../shared/types';
 import { PromVisualQuery } from '../types';
 
+import { MetricsModal } from './metrics-modal';
+
 export interface MetricComboboxProps {
   metricLookupDisabled: boolean;
   query: PromVisualQuery;
@@ -28,6 +32,8 @@ export function MetricCombobox({
   labelsFilters,
   variableEditor,
 }: Readonly<MetricComboboxProps>) {
+  const [metricsModalOpen, setMetricsModalOpen] = useState(false);
+
   /**
    * Gets label_values response from prometheus API for current autocomplete query string and any existing labels filters
    */
@@ -65,21 +71,59 @@ export function MetricCombobox({
     [getMetricLabels, onGetMetrics]
   );
 
+  const loadMetricsExplorerMetrics = useCallback(async () => {
+    const allMetrics = await onGetMetrics();
+    const metrics: string[] = [];
+    for (const metric of allMetrics) {
+      if (metric.value) {
+        metrics.push(metric.value);
+      }
+    }
+
+    return metrics;
+  }, [onGetMetrics]);
+
+  const metricsExplorerEnabled = config.featureToggles.prometheusMetricEncyclopedia;
+
   const asyncSelect = () => {
     return (
-      <Combobox
-        placeholder="Select metric"
-        width="auto"
-        minWidth={25}
-        options={loadOptions}
-        value={query.metric}
-        onChange={onComboboxChange}
-      />
+      <InputGroup>
+        <Combobox
+          placeholder="Select metric"
+          width="auto"
+          minWidth={25}
+          options={loadOptions}
+          value={query.metric}
+          onChange={onComboboxChange}
+        />
+
+        {metricsExplorerEnabled ? (
+          <Button
+            tooltip="Open metrics explorer"
+            aria-label="Open metrics explorer"
+            variant="secondary"
+            icon="book-open"
+            onClick={() => setMetricsModalOpen(true)}
+          />
+        ) : (
+          <></>
+        )}
+      </InputGroup>
     );
   };
 
   return (
     <>
+      {metricsExplorerEnabled && !datasource.lookupsDisabled && metricsModalOpen && (
+        <MetricsModal
+          datasource={datasource}
+          isOpen={metricsModalOpen}
+          onClose={() => setMetricsModalOpen(false)}
+          query={query}
+          onChange={onChange}
+          initialMetrics={loadMetricsExplorerMetrics}
+        />
+      )}
       {variableEditor ? (
         <InlineFieldRow>
           <InlineField
diff --git a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/metrics-modal/MetricsModal.tsx b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/metrics-modal/MetricsModal.tsx
index ae7eae785b6..53051953c81 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/metrics-modal/MetricsModal.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/metrics-modal/MetricsModal.tsx
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ export type MetricsModalProps = {
   query: PromVisualQuery;
   onClose: () => void;
   onChange: (query: PromVisualQuery) => void;
-  initialMetrics: string[];
+  initialMetrics: string[] | (() => Promise<string[]>);
 };
 
 export const MetricsModal = (props: MetricsModalProps) => {
@@ -70,7 +70,11 @@ export const MetricsModal = (props: MetricsModalProps) => {
     // *** Loading Gif
     dispatch(setIsLoading(true));
 
-    const data: MetricsModalMetadata = await setMetrics(datasource, query, initialMetrics);
+    // Because Combobox in MetricsCombobox doesn't use the same lifecycle as Select to open the Metrics Explorer
+    // it might not have loaded any metrics yet, so it instead passes in an async function to get the metrics
+    const metrics = typeof initialMetrics === 'function' ? await initialMetrics() : initialMetrics;
+
+    const data: MetricsModalMetadata = await setMetrics(datasource, query, metrics);
     dispatch(
       buildMetrics({
         isLoading: false,