diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Button/Button.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Button/Button.tsx
index a90e029e14e..7a7631ea625 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Button/Button.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Button/Button.tsx
@@ -61,8 +61,9 @@ export const Button = React.forwardRef<HTMLButtonElement, ButtonProps>(
     });
 
     // In order to standardise Button please always consider using IconButton when you need a button with an icon only
+    // When using tooltip, ref is forwarded to Tooltip component instead for https://github.com/grafana/grafana/issues/65632
     const button = (
-      <button className={cx(styles.button, className)} type={type} {...otherProps} ref={ref}>
+      <button className={cx(styles.button, className)} type={type} {...otherProps} ref={tooltip ? undefined : ref}>
         {icon && <Icon name={icon} size={size} className={styles.icon} />}
         {children && <span className={styles.content}>{children}</span>}
       </button>
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ export const Button = React.forwardRef<HTMLButtonElement, ButtonProps>(
 
     if (tooltip) {
       return (
-        <Tooltip content={tooltip} placement={tooltipPlacement}>
+        <Tooltip ref={ref} content={tooltip} placement={tooltipPlacement}>
           {button}
         </Tooltip>
       );
@@ -123,8 +124,9 @@ export const LinkButton = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, ButtonLinkProps>(
       className
     );
 
+    // When using tooltip, ref is forwarded to Tooltip component instead for https://github.com/grafana/grafana/issues/65632
     const button = (
-      <a className={linkButtonStyles} {...otherProps} tabIndex={disabled ? -1 : 0} ref={ref}>
+      <a className={linkButtonStyles} {...otherProps} tabIndex={disabled ? -1 : 0} ref={tooltip ? undefined : ref}>
         {icon && <Icon name={icon} size={size} className={styles.icon} />}
         {children && <span className={styles.content}>{children}</span>}
       </a>
@@ -132,7 +134,7 @@ export const LinkButton = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, ButtonLinkProps>(
 
     if (tooltip) {
       return (
-        <Tooltip content={tooltip} placement={tooltipPlacement}>
+        <Tooltip ref={ref} content={tooltip} placement={tooltipPlacement}>
           {button}
         </Tooltip>
       );
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Dropdown/Dropdown.story.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Dropdown/Dropdown.story.tsx
index 46e7079ccbe..44f4794688f 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Dropdown/Dropdown.story.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Dropdown/Dropdown.story.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import React from 'react';
 import { StoryExample } from '../../utils/storybook/StoryExample';
 import { withCenteredStory } from '../../utils/storybook/withCenteredStory';
 import { Button } from '../Button';
+import { IconButton } from '../IconButton/IconButton';
 import { VerticalGroup } from '../Layout/Layout';
 import { Menu } from '../Menu/Menu';
 
@@ -41,9 +42,10 @@ export function Examples() {
           <Button variant="secondary">Button</Button>
         </Dropdown>
       </StoryExample>
+
       <StoryExample name="Icon button, placement=bottom-start">
         <Dropdown overlay={menu} placement="bottom-start">
-          <Button variant="secondary" icon="bars" />
+          <IconButton tooltip="Open menu" variant="secondary" name="bars" />
         </Dropdown>
       </StoryExample>
     </VerticalGroup>
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Dropdown/Dropdown.test.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Dropdown/Dropdown.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..94ef9b20e72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Dropdown/Dropdown.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
+import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
+import React from 'react';
+
+import { Button } from '../Button';
+import { Menu } from '../Menu/Menu';
+
+import { Dropdown } from './Dropdown';
+
+describe('Dropdown', () => {
+  it('supports buttons with tooltips', async () => {
+    const menu = (
+      <Menu>
+        <Menu.Item label="View settings" />
+      </Menu>
+    );
+
+    render(
+      <Dropdown overlay={menu}>
+        <Button tooltip="Tooltip content">Open me</Button>
+      </Dropdown>
+    );
+
+    const button = screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Open me' });
+
+    await userEvent.hover(button);
+    expect(await screen.findByText('Tooltip content')).toBeVisible(); // tooltip appears on a delay
+
+    await userEvent.click(button);
+    expect(screen.queryByText('View settings')).toBeVisible();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/IconButton/IconButton.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/IconButton/IconButton.tsx
index a4c1b846c60..9c508075ebf 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/IconButton/IconButton.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/IconButton/IconButton.tsx
@@ -61,15 +61,21 @@ export const IconButton = React.forwardRef<HTMLButtonElement, Props>(
     const styles = getStyles(theme, limitedIconSize, variant);
     const tooltipString = typeof tooltip === 'string' ? tooltip : '';
 
+    // When using tooltip, ref is forwarded to Tooltip component instead for https://github.com/grafana/grafana/issues/65632
     const button = (
-      <button ref={ref} aria-label={ariaLabel || tooltipString} {...restProps} className={cx(styles.button, className)}>
+      <button
+        ref={tooltip ? undefined : ref}
+        aria-label={ariaLabel || tooltipString}
+        {...restProps}
+        className={cx(styles.button, className)}
+      >
         <Icon name={name} size={limitedIconSize} className={styles.icon} type={iconType} />
       </button>
     );
 
     if (tooltip) {
       return (
-        <Tooltip content={tooltip} placement={tooltipPlacement}>
+        <Tooltip ref={ref} content={tooltip} placement={tooltipPlacement}>
           {button}
         </Tooltip>
       );
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.test.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.test.tsx
index 68dbc689ce0..bfd5b5b77b0 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.test.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
-import React from 'react';
+import React, { MutableRefObject } from 'react';
 
 import { Tooltip } from './Tooltip';
 
@@ -14,4 +14,28 @@ describe('Tooltip', () => {
     );
     expect(screen.getByText('Link with tooltip')).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
+
+  it('forwards the function ref', () => {
+    const refFn = jest.fn();
+
+    render(
+      <Tooltip content="Cooltip content" ref={refFn}>
+        <span>On the page</span>
+      </Tooltip>
+    );
+
+    expect(refFn).toBeCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('forwards the mutable ref', () => {
+    const refObj: MutableRefObject<HTMLElement | null> = { current: null };
+
+    render(
+      <Tooltip content="Cooltip content" ref={refObj}>
+        <span>On the page</span>
+      </Tooltip>
+    );
+
+    expect(refObj.current).not.toBeNull();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.tsx
index 8ff8c6fb3b5..4169a1ad8a2 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Tooltip/Tooltip.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React, { useEffect } from 'react';
+import React, { useCallback, useEffect } from 'react';
 import { usePopperTooltip } from 'react-popper-tooltip';
 
 import { GrafanaTheme2 } from '@grafana/data';
@@ -21,62 +21,77 @@ export interface TooltipProps {
   interactive?: boolean;
 }
 
-export const Tooltip = React.memo(({ children, theme, interactive, show, placement, content }: TooltipProps) => {
-  const [controlledVisible, setControlledVisible] = React.useState(show);
+export const Tooltip = React.forwardRef<HTMLElement, TooltipProps>(
+  ({ children, theme, interactive, show, placement, content }, forwardedRef) => {
+    const [controlledVisible, setControlledVisible] = React.useState(show);
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (controlledVisible !== false) {
-      const handleKeyDown = (enterKey: KeyboardEvent) => {
-        if (enterKey.key === 'Escape') {
-          setControlledVisible(false);
+    useEffect(() => {
+      if (controlledVisible !== false) {
+        const handleKeyDown = (enterKey: KeyboardEvent) => {
+          if (enterKey.key === 'Escape') {
+            setControlledVisible(false);
+          }
+        };
+        document.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
+        return () => {
+          document.removeEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
+        };
+      } else {
+        return;
+      }
+    }, [controlledVisible]);
+
+    const { getArrowProps, getTooltipProps, setTooltipRef, setTriggerRef, visible, update } = usePopperTooltip({
+      visible: controlledVisible,
+      placement: placement,
+      interactive: interactive,
+      delayHide: interactive ? 100 : 0,
+      delayShow: 150,
+      offset: [0, 8],
+      trigger: ['hover', 'focus'],
+      onVisibleChange: setControlledVisible,
+    });
+
+    const styles = useStyles2(getStyles);
+    const style = styles[theme ?? 'info'];
+
+    const handleRef = useCallback(
+      (ref: HTMLElement | null) => {
+        setTriggerRef(ref);
+
+        if (typeof forwardedRef === 'function') {
+          forwardedRef(ref);
+        } else if (forwardedRef) {
+          forwardedRef.current = ref;
         }
-      };
-      document.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
-      return () => {
-        document.removeEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
-      };
-    } else {
-      return;
-    }
-  }, [controlledVisible]);
+      },
+      [forwardedRef, setTriggerRef]
+    );
 
-  const { getArrowProps, getTooltipProps, setTooltipRef, setTriggerRef, visible, update } = usePopperTooltip({
-    visible: controlledVisible,
-    placement: placement,
-    interactive: interactive,
-    delayHide: interactive ? 100 : 0,
-    delayShow: 150,
-    offset: [0, 8],
-    trigger: ['hover', 'focus'],
-    onVisibleChange: setControlledVisible,
-  });
-
-  const styles = useStyles2(getStyles);
-  const style = styles[theme ?? 'info'];
-
-  return (
-    <>
-      {React.cloneElement(children, {
-        ref: setTriggerRef,
-        tabIndex: 0, // tooltip should be keyboard focusable
-      })}
-      {visible && (
-        <Portal>
-          <div ref={setTooltipRef} {...getTooltipProps({ className: style.container })}>
-            <div {...getArrowProps({ className: style.arrow })} />
-            {typeof content === 'string' && content}
-            {React.isValidElement(content) && React.cloneElement(content)}
-            {typeof content === 'function' &&
-              update &&
-              content({
-                updatePopperPosition: update,
-              })}
-          </div>
-        </Portal>
-      )}
-    </>
-  );
-});
+    return (
+      <>
+        {React.cloneElement(children, {
+          ref: handleRef,
+          tabIndex: 0, // tooltip should be keyboard focusable
+        })}
+        {visible && (
+          <Portal>
+            <div ref={setTooltipRef} {...getTooltipProps({ className: style.container })}>
+              <div {...getArrowProps({ className: style.arrow })} />
+              {typeof content === 'string' && content}
+              {React.isValidElement(content) && React.cloneElement(content)}
+              {typeof content === 'function' &&
+                update &&
+                content({
+                  updatePopperPosition: update,
+                })}
+            </div>
+          </Portal>
+        )}
+      </>
+    );
+  }
+);
 
 Tooltip.displayName = 'Tooltip';