diff --git a/e2e/suite1/specs/exemplars.spec.ts b/e2e/suite1/specs/exemplars.spec.ts
index c93b2da6b79..d11687ed800 100644
--- a/e2e/suite1/specs/exemplars.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/suite1/specs/exemplars.spec.ts
@@ -65,8 +65,6 @@ describe('Exemplars', () => {
 
     e2e.components.DataSource.Prometheus.exemplarMarker().first().trigger('mouseover');
     e2e().contains('Query with gdev-tempo').click();
-
-    e2e().get('[aria-label="Node: app"]').should('be.visible');
     e2e.components.TraceViewer.spanBar().should('have.length', 11);
   });
 });
diff --git a/e2e/suite1/specs/trace-view-scrolling.spec.ts b/e2e/suite1/specs/trace-view-scrolling.spec.ts
index ecabfd5ed8b..f6daacea4a2 100644
--- a/e2e/suite1/specs/trace-view-scrolling.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/suite1/specs/trace-view-scrolling.spec.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ describe('Trace view', () => {
 
     e2e.pages.Explore.General.scrollBar().scrollTo('center');
 
-    // After scrolling we should have 139 spans instead of the first 100
-    e2e.components.TraceViewer.spanBar().should('have.length', 139);
+    // After scrolling we should load more spans
+    e2e.components.TraceViewer.spanBar().should('have.length', 140);
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Collapse/Collapse.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Collapse/Collapse.tsx
index aa4554984c7..908457718a5 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Collapse/Collapse.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/Collapse/Collapse.tsx
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ const getStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme2) => ({
     margin-right: ${theme.spacing(1)};
     font-size: ${theme.typography.size.md};
   `,
+  icon: css`
+    label: collapse__icon;
+    margin-left: -5px;
+  `,
 });
 
 export interface Props {
@@ -133,7 +137,7 @@ export const Collapse: FunctionComponent<Props> = ({
   return (
     <div className={panelClass}>
       <div className={headerClass} onClick={onClickToggle}>
-        {collapsible && <Icon name={isOpen ? 'angle-up' : 'angle-down'} />}
+        {collapsible && <Icon className={style.icon} name={isOpen ? 'angle-up' : 'angle-down'} />}
         <div className={cx([style.headerLabel])}>{label}</div>
       </div>
       {isOpen && (
diff --git a/public/app/features/explore/Explore.tsx b/public/app/features/explore/Explore.tsx
index 7c49109f840..0ea2a18abc2 100644
--- a/public/app/features/explore/Explore.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/explore/Explore.tsx
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ export class Explore extends React.PureComponent<ExploreProps, ExploreState> {
       <NodeGraphContainer
         dataFrames={this.getNodeGraphDataFrames(queryResponse.series)}
         exploreId={exploreId}
-        short={showTrace}
+        withTraceView={showTrace}
       />
     );
   }
diff --git a/public/app/features/explore/NodeGraphContainer.test.tsx b/public/app/features/explore/NodeGraphContainer.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..01d5960af01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/features/explore/NodeGraphContainer.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import { render } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { UnconnectedNodeGraphContainer } from './NodeGraphContainer';
+import { getDefaultTimeRange, MutableDataFrame } from '@grafana/data';
+import { ExploreId } from '../../types';
+
+describe('NodeGraphContainer', () => {
+  it('is collapsed if shown with traces', () => {
+    const { container } = render(
+      <UnconnectedNodeGraphContainer
+        dataFrames={[emptyFrame]}
+        exploreId={ExploreId.left}
+        range={getDefaultTimeRange()}
+        splitOpen={(() => {}) as any}
+        withTraceView={true}
+      />
+    );
+
+    // Make sure we only show header in the collapsible
+    expect(container.firstChild?.childNodes.length).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('shows the graph if not with trace view', () => {
+    const { container } = render(
+      <UnconnectedNodeGraphContainer
+        dataFrames={[nodes]}
+        exploreId={ExploreId.left}
+        range={getDefaultTimeRange()}
+        splitOpen={(() => {}) as any}
+      />
+    );
+
+    expect(container.firstChild?.childNodes.length).toBe(2);
+    expect(container.querySelector('svg')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});
+
+const emptyFrame = new MutableDataFrame();
+
+export const nodes = new MutableDataFrame({
+  fields: toFields([
+    ['id', ['3fa414edcef6ad90']],
+    ['title', ['tempo-querier']],
+    ['subTitle', ['HTTP GET - api_traces_traceid']],
+    ['mainStat', ['1049.14ms (100%)']],
+    ['secondaryStat', ['1047.29ms (99.82%)']],
+    ['color', [0.9982395121342127]],
+  ]),
+});
+
+export function toFields(fields: Array<[string, any[]]>) {
+  return fields.map(([name, values]) => {
+    return { name, values };
+  });
+}
diff --git a/public/app/features/explore/NodeGraphContainer.tsx b/public/app/features/explore/NodeGraphContainer.tsx
index a15d27e8213..24f576c976b 100644
--- a/public/app/features/explore/NodeGraphContainer.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/explore/NodeGraphContainer.tsx
@@ -1,11 +1,22 @@
-import React, { useState } from 'react';
-import { Badge, Collapse } from '@grafana/ui';
-import { DataFrame, TimeRange } from '@grafana/data';
+import React from 'react';
+import { useToggle } from 'react-use';
+import { Badge, Collapse, useStyles2 } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { DataFrame, GrafanaTheme2, TimeRange } from '@grafana/data';
+import { css } from '@emotion/css';
 import { ExploreId, StoreState } from '../../types';
 import { splitOpen } from './state/main';
 import { connect, ConnectedProps } from 'react-redux';
 import { useLinks } from './utils/links';
 import { NodeGraph } from '../../plugins/panel/nodeGraph';
+import { useCategorizeFrames } from '../../plugins/panel/nodeGraph/useCategorizeFrames';
+
+const getStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme2) => ({
+  warningText: css`
+    label: warningText;
+    font-size: ${theme.typography.bodySmall.fontSize};
+    color: ${theme.colors.text.secondary};
+  `,
+});
 
 interface Props {
   // Edges and Nodes are separate frames
@@ -13,26 +24,35 @@ interface Props {
   exploreId: ExploreId;
   range: TimeRange;
   splitOpen: typeof splitOpen;
-  short?: boolean;
+  // When showing the node graph together with trace view we do some changes so it works better.
+  withTraceView?: boolean;
 }
 export function UnconnectedNodeGraphContainer(props: Props & ConnectedProps<typeof connector>) {
-  const { dataFrames, range, splitOpen, short } = props;
+  const { dataFrames, range, splitOpen, withTraceView } = props;
   const getLinks = useLinks(range, splitOpen);
+  const styles = useStyles2(getStyles);
 
-  const [open, setOpen] = useState(true);
+  const { nodes } = useCategorizeFrames(dataFrames);
+  const [open, toggleOpen] = useToggle(false);
+  const countWarning =
+    withTraceView && nodes[0]?.length > 1000 ? (
+      <span className={styles.warningText}> ({nodes[0].length} nodes, can be slow to load)</span>
+    ) : null;
 
   return (
     <Collapse
       label={
         <span>
-          Node graph <Badge text={'Beta'} color={'blue'} icon={'rocket'} tooltip={'This visualization is in beta'} />
+          Node graph{countWarning}{' '}
+          <Badge text={'Beta'} color={'blue'} icon={'rocket'} tooltip={'This visualization is in beta'} />
         </span>
       }
-      collapsible={short}
-      isOpen={short ? open : true}
-      onToggle={short ? () => setOpen(!open) : undefined}
+      collapsible={withTraceView}
+      // We allow collapsing this only when it is shown together with trace view.
+      isOpen={withTraceView ? open : true}
+      onToggle={withTraceView ? () => toggleOpen() : undefined}
     >
-      <div style={{ height: short ? 300 : 600 }}>
+      <div style={{ height: withTraceView ? 500 : 600 }}>
         <NodeGraph dataFrames={dataFrames} getLinks={getLinks} />
       </div>
     </Collapse>