diff --git a/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.test.tsx b/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.test.tsx
index 1a9daf675c1..19a8741c0ed 100644
--- a/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.test.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.test.tsx
@@ -213,6 +213,69 @@ describe('useStateSync', () => {
     expect(queries?.[0].datasource?.uid).toBe('loki-uid');
   });
 
+  it('inits with mixed datasource if there are multiple datasources in queries and no root level datasource is defined', async () => {
+    const { location, waitForNextUpdate, store } = setup({
+      queryParams: {
+        panes: JSON.stringify({
+          one: {
+            queries: [
+              { datasource: { name: 'loki', uid: 'loki-uid' } },
+              { datasource: { name: 'elastic', uid: 'elastic-uid' } },
+            ],
+          },
+        }),
+        schemaVersion: 1,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const initialHistoryLength = location.getHistory().length;
+
+    await waitForNextUpdate();
+
+    expect(location.getHistory().length).toBe(initialHistoryLength);
+
+    const search = location.getSearchObject();
+    expect(search.panes).toBeDefined();
+
+    const paneState = store.getState().explore.panes['one'];
+    expect(paneState?.datasourceInstance?.name).toBe(MIXED_DATASOURCE_NAME);
+
+    expect(paneState?.queries).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(paneState?.queries?.[0].datasource?.uid).toBe('loki-uid');
+    expect(paneState?.queries?.[1].datasource?.uid).toBe('elastic-uid');
+  });
+
+  it("inits with a query's datasource if there are multiple datasources in queries, no root level datasource, and only one query has a valid datsource", async () => {
+    const { location, waitForNextUpdate, store } = setup({
+      queryParams: {
+        panes: JSON.stringify({
+          one: {
+            queries: [
+              { datasource: { name: 'loki', uid: 'loki-uid' } },
+              { datasource: { name: 'UNKNOWN', uid: 'UNKNOWN-UID' } },
+            ],
+          },
+        }),
+        schemaVersion: 1,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const initialHistoryLength = location.getHistory().length;
+
+    await waitForNextUpdate();
+
+    expect(location.getHistory().length).toBe(initialHistoryLength);
+
+    const search = location.getSearchObject();
+    expect(search.panes).toBeDefined();
+
+    const paneState = store.getState().explore.panes['one'];
+    expect(paneState?.datasourceInstance?.getRef().uid).toBe('loki-uid');
+
+    expect(paneState?.queries).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(paneState?.queries?.[0].datasource?.uid).toBe('loki-uid');
+  });
+
   it('inits with the last used datasource from localStorage', async () => {
     setLastUsedDatasourceUID(1, 'elastic-uid');
     const { waitForNextUpdate, store } = setup({
diff --git a/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.ts b/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.ts
index e40b57d55f5..bb237aaa467 100644
--- a/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/explore/hooks/useStateSync/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { identity, isEmpty, isEqual, isObject, mapValues, omitBy } from 'lodash';
 import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
 
-import { CoreApp, ExploreUrlState, DataSourceApi, toURLRange, EventBusSrv } from '@grafana/data';
+import { CoreApp, ExploreUrlState, DataSourceApi, toURLRange, EventBusSrv, isTruthy } from '@grafana/data';
 import { DataQuery, DataSourceRef } from '@grafana/schema';
 import { useGrafana } from 'app/core/context/GrafanaContext';
 import { useAppNotification } from 'app/core/copy/appNotification';
@@ -374,21 +374,38 @@ async function getPaneDatasource(
     } catch (_) {}
   }
 
-  // TODO: if queries have multiple datasources we should return mixed datasource
-  // Else we try to find a datasource in the queries, returning the first one that exists
-  const queriesWithDS = queries.filter((q) => q.datasource);
-  for (const query of queriesWithDS) {
-    try {
-      return await getDatasourceSrv().get(query.datasource);
-    } catch (_) {}
-  }
+  // Else we try to find a datasource in the queries
+  const queriesDatasources = [
+    ...new Set(
+      queries
+        .map((q) => q.datasource)
+        .filter(isTruthy)
+        .map((ds) => (typeof ds === 'string' ? ds : ds.uid))
+    ),
+  ];
 
-  // If none of the queries specify a avalid datasource, we use the last used one
-  const lastUsedDSUID = getLastUsedDatasourceUID(orgId);
+  try {
+    if (queriesDatasources.length >= 1) {
+      const datasources = (await Promise.allSettled(queriesDatasources.map((ds) => getDatasourceSrv().get(ds)))).filter(
+        isFulfilled
+      );
 
+      // if queries have multiple (valid) datasources, we return the mixed datasource
+      if (datasources.length > 1) {
+        return await getDatasourceSrv().get(MIXED_DATASOURCE_NAME);
+      }
+
+      // otherwise we return the first datasource.
+      if (datasources.length === 1) {
+        return await getDatasourceSrv().get(queriesDatasources[0]);
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (_) {}
+
+  // If none of the queries specify a valid datasource, we use the last used one
   return (
     getDatasourceSrv()
-      .get(lastUsedDSUID)
+      .get(getLastUsedDatasourceUID(orgId))
       // Or the default one
       .catch(() => getDatasourceSrv().get())
       .catch(() => undefined)