diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/legacy/sql_dashboards.go b/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/legacy/sql_dashboards.go
index ec751cbecf0..320dea78209 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/legacy/sql_dashboards.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/legacy/sql_dashboards.go
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ func (a *dashboardSqlAccess) scanRow(rows *sql.Rows) (*dashboardRow, error) {
 		meta.SetCreatedBy(getUserID(createdBy, createdByID))
 		meta.SetUpdatedBy(getUserID(updatedBy, updatedByID))
 		meta.SetDeprecatedInternalID(dashboard_id) //nolint:staticcheck
+		meta.SetGeneration(version)
 
 		if deleted.Valid {
 			meta.SetDeletionTimestamp(ptr.To(metav1.NewTime(deleted.Time)))
diff --git a/pkg/tests/apis/dashboard/dashboards_test.go b/pkg/tests/apis/dashboard/dashboards_test.go
index 2d1a5855ce8..4232fd478ba 100644
--- a/pkg/tests/apis/dashboard/dashboards_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tests/apis/dashboard/dashboards_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apimachinery/utils"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/setting"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tests/apis"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tests/testinfra"
@@ -60,6 +61,12 @@ func runDashboardTest(t *testing.T, helper *apis.K8sTestHelper) {
 		obj, err = client.Resource.Get(ctx, created, metav1.GetOptions{})
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Equal(t, created, obj.GetName())
+		require.Equal(t, int64(1), obj.GetGeneration())
+
+		wrap, err := utils.MetaAccessor(obj)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Empty(t, wrap.GetRepositoryName()) // no SQL repo stub
+		require.Equal(t, helper.Org1.Admin.Identity.GetUID(), wrap.GetCreatedBy())
 
 		// Commented out because the dynamic client does not like lists as sub-resource
 		// // Check that it now appears in the history
diff --git a/public/app/features/apiserver/types.ts b/public/app/features/apiserver/types.ts
index c6d142f4019..1df68585beb 100644
--- a/public/app/features/apiserver/types.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/apiserver/types.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ export interface ObjectMeta {
   namespace?: string;
   // Resource version will increase (not sequentially!) with any change to the saved value
   resourceVersion: string;
+  // Incremented by the server when the value of spec changes
+  generation?: number;
   // The first time this was saved
   creationTimestamp: string;
   // General resource annotations -- including the common grafana.app values