diff --git a/public/app/core/specs/kbn.test.ts b/public/app/core/specs/kbn.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..25f82a5f850
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/core/specs/kbn.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import kbn from '../utils/kbn';
+
+describe('stringToJsRegex', () => {
+  it('should parse the valid regex value', () => {
+    const output = kbn.stringToJsRegex("/validRegexp/");
+    expect(output).toBeInstanceOf(RegExp);
+  });
+
+  it('should throw error on invalid regex value', () => {
+    const input = "/etc/hostname";
+    expect(() => {
+      kbn.stringToJsRegex(input);
+    }).toThrow();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts b/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts
index 887c30229d3..43886fafd07 100644
--- a/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts
+++ b/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts
@@ -234,6 +234,11 @@ kbn.stringToJsRegex = str => {
   }
 
   const match = str.match(new RegExp('^/(.*?)/(g?i?m?y?)$'));
+
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new Error(`'${str}' is not a valid regular expression.`);
+  }
+
   return new RegExp(match[1], match[2]);
 };
 
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/graph/module.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/graph/module.ts
index 3919c4f69a9..e3e3c4eb588 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/graph/module.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/graph/module.ts
@@ -235,7 +235,11 @@ class GraphCtrl extends MetricsPanelCtrl {
     }
 
     for (const series of this.seriesList) {
-      series.applySeriesOverrides(this.panel.seriesOverrides);
+      try {
+        series.applySeriesOverrides(this.panel.seriesOverrides);
+      } catch (e) {
+        this.publishAppEvent('alert-error', [e.message]);
+      }
 
       if (series.unit) {
         this.panel.yaxes[series.yaxis - 1].format = series.unit;