diff --git a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/LabelFilterItem.tsx b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/LabelFilterItem.tsx
index c8075933f3b..b5ef8a62848 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/LabelFilterItem.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-prometheus/src/querybuilder/components/LabelFilterItem.tsx
@@ -142,6 +142,8 @@ export function LabelFilterItem({
               : getSelectOptionsFromString(itemValue).map(toOption)[0]
           }
           allowCustomValue
+          formatCreateLabel={(input) => input} // to avoid confusion, opt out of using the `defaultFormatCreateLabel`
+          createOptionPosition={item.op?.includes('~') ? 'first' : 'last'}
           onOpenMenu={async () => {
             setState({ isLoadingLabelValues: true });
             const labelValues = await onGetLabelValues(item);