diff --git a/pkg/expr/sql/parser.go b/pkg/expr/sql/parser.go
index d5ea2d1f6be..48e34ea1154 100644
--- a/pkg/expr/sql/parser.go
+++ b/pkg/expr/sql/parser.go
@@ -26,16 +26,35 @@ func TablesList(rawSQL string) ([]string, error) {
 			buf := sqlparser.NewTrackedBuffer(nil)
 			t.Format(buf)
 			table := buf.String()
-			if table != "dual" {
+			if table != "dual" && !strings.HasPrefix(table, "(") {
+				if strings.Contains(table, " as") {
+					name := stripAlias(table)
+					tables = append(tables, name)
+					continue
+				}
 				tables = append(tables, buf.String())
 			}
 		}
 	default:
-		return nil, errors.New("not a select statement")
+		return parseTables(rawSQL)
+	}
+	if len(tables) == 0 {
+		return parseTables(rawSQL)
 	}
 	return tables, nil
 }
 
+func stripAlias(table string) string {
+	tableParts := []string{}
+	for _, part := range strings.Split(table, " ") {
+		if part == "as" {
+			break
+		}
+		tableParts = append(tableParts, part)
+	}
+	return strings.Join(tableParts, " ")
+}
+
 // uses a simple tokenizer
 func parse(rawSQL string) ([]string, error) {
 	query, err := parser.Parse(rawSQL)
@@ -53,17 +72,20 @@ func parse(rawSQL string) ([]string, error) {
 
 func parseTables(rawSQL string) ([]string, error) {
 	checkSql := strings.ToUpper(rawSQL)
+	rawSQL = strings.ReplaceAll(rawSQL, "\n", " ")
 	if strings.HasPrefix(checkSql, "SELECT") || strings.HasPrefix(rawSQL, "WITH") {
 		tables := []string{}
 		tokens := strings.Split(rawSQL, " ")
 		checkNext := false
 		takeNext := false
-		for _, t := range tokens {
-			t = strings.ToUpper(t)
+		for _, token := range tokens {
+			t := strings.ToUpper(token)
 			t = strings.TrimSpace(t)
 
 			if takeNext {
-				tables = append(tables, t)
+				if !existsInList(token, tables) {
+					tables = append(tables, token)
+				}
 				checkNext = false
 				takeNext = false
 				continue
@@ -74,11 +96,13 @@ func parseTables(rawSQL string) ([]string, error) {
 					continue
 				}
 				if strings.Contains(t, ",") {
-					values := strings.Split(t, ",")
+					values := strings.Split(token, ",")
 					for _, v := range values {
 						v := strings.TrimSpace(v)
 						if v != "" {
-							tables = append(tables, v)
+							if !existsInList(token, tables) {
+								tables = append(tables, v)
+							}
 						} else {
 							takeNext = true
 							break
@@ -86,7 +110,9 @@ func parseTables(rawSQL string) ([]string, error) {
 					}
 					continue
 				}
-				tables = append(tables, t)
+				if !existsInList(token, tables) {
+					tables = append(tables, token)
+				}
 				checkNext = false
 			}
 			if t == "FROM" {
@@ -97,3 +123,12 @@ func parseTables(rawSQL string) ([]string, error) {
 	}
 	return nil, errors.New("not a select statement")
 }
+
+func existsInList(table string, list []string) bool {
+	for _, t := range list {
+		if t == table {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/pkg/expr/sql/parser_test.go b/pkg/expr/sql/parser_test.go
index 2c8e43681e6..ce018c3c0f5 100644
--- a/pkg/expr/sql/parser_test.go
+++ b/pkg/expr/sql/parser_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 	tables, err := parseTables((sql))
 	assert.Nil(t, err)
 
-	assert.Equal(t, "FOO", tables[0])
+	assert.Equal(t, "foo", tables[0])
 }
 
 func TestParseWithComma(t *testing.T) {
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ func TestParseWithComma(t *testing.T) {
 	tables, err := parseTables((sql))
 	assert.Nil(t, err)
 
-	assert.Equal(t, "FOO", tables[0])
-	assert.Equal(t, "BAR", tables[1])
+	assert.Equal(t, "foo", tables[0])
+	assert.Equal(t, "bar", tables[1])
 }
 
 func TestParseWithCommas(t *testing.T) {
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ func TestParseWithCommas(t *testing.T) {
 	tables, err := parseTables((sql))
 	assert.Nil(t, err)
 
-	assert.Equal(t, "FOO", tables[0])
-	assert.Equal(t, "BAR", tables[1])
-	assert.Equal(t, "BAZ", tables[2])
+	assert.Equal(t, "foo", tables[0])
+	assert.Equal(t, "bar", tables[1])
+	assert.Equal(t, "baz", tables[2])
 }
 
 func TestArray(t *testing.T) {
@@ -56,3 +56,12 @@ func TestXxx(t *testing.T) {
 
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, len(tables))
 }
+
+func TestParseSubquery(t *testing.T) {
+	sql := "select * from (select * from people limit 1)"
+	tables, err := TablesList((sql))
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(tables))
+	assert.Equal(t, "people", tables[0])
+}
diff --git a/pkg/expr/sql_command.go b/pkg/expr/sql_command.go
index ec041e9abd6..bbcb942467f 100644
--- a/pkg/expr/sql_command.go
+++ b/pkg/expr/sql_command.go
@@ -74,7 +74,11 @@ func (gr *SQLCommand) Execute(ctx context.Context, now time.Time, vars mathexp.V
 
 	allFrames := []*data.Frame{}
 	for _, ref := range gr.varsToQuery {
-		results := vars[ref]
+		results, ok := vars[ref]
+		if !ok {
+			logger.Warn("no results found for", "ref", ref)
+			continue
+		}
 		frames := results.Values.AsDataFrames(ref)
 		allFrames = append(allFrames, frames...)
 	}