diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/index.ts b/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/index.ts
index c5f4b2c5b1b..a5ae301710b 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/index.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/index.ts
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@ export * from './processTimeSeries';
 export * from './valueFormats/valueFormats';
 export * from './colors';
 export * from './namedColorsPalette';
+export * from './stringUtils';
 export { getMappedValue } from './valueMappings';
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/stringUtils.test.ts b/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/stringUtils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a6b35461d78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/stringUtils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import { stringToJsRegex } from '@grafana/ui';
+
+describe('stringToJsRegex', () => {
+  it('should parse the valid regex value', () => {
+    const output = stringToJsRegex('/validRegexp/');
+    expect(output).toBeInstanceOf(RegExp);
+  });
+
+  it('should throw error on invalid regex value', () => {
+    const input = '/etc/hostname';
+    expect(() => {
+      stringToJsRegex(input);
+    }).toThrow();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/stringUtils.ts b/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/stringUtils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..12433623a6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/utils/stringUtils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+export function stringToJsRegex(str: string): RegExp {
+  if (str[0] !== '/') {
+    return new RegExp('^' + str + '$');
+  }
+
+  const match = str.match(new RegExp('^/(.*?)/(g?i?m?y?)$'));
+
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new Error(`'${str}' is not a valid regular expression.`);
+  }
+
+  return new RegExp(match[1], match[2]);
+}
diff --git a/public/app/core/time_series2.ts b/public/app/core/time_series2.ts
index 23a0a0c19ea..10c91c148d7 100644
--- a/public/app/core/time_series2.ts
+++ b/public/app/core/time_series2.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-import kbn from 'app/core/utils/kbn';
 import { getFlotTickDecimals } from 'app/core/utils/ticks';
 import _ from 'lodash';
-import { getValueFormat } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { getValueFormat, stringToJsRegex } from '@grafana/ui';
 
 function matchSeriesOverride(aliasOrRegex, seriesAlias) {
   if (!aliasOrRegex) {
@@ -9,7 +8,7 @@ function matchSeriesOverride(aliasOrRegex, seriesAlias) {
   }
 
   if (aliasOrRegex[0] === '/') {
-    const regex = kbn.stringToJsRegex(aliasOrRegex);
+    const regex = stringToJsRegex(aliasOrRegex);
     return seriesAlias.match(regex) != null;
   }
 
diff --git a/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts b/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts
index 43886fafd07..dd79d552277 100644
--- a/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts
+++ b/public/app/core/utils/kbn.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import _ from 'lodash';
-import { getValueFormat, getValueFormatterIndex, getValueFormats } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { getValueFormat, getValueFormatterIndex, getValueFormats, stringToJsRegex } from '@grafana/ui';
 
 const kbn: any = {};
 
@@ -228,18 +228,10 @@ kbn.slugifyForUrl = str => {
     .replace(/ +/g, '-');
 };
 
+/** deprecated since 6.1, use grafana/ui */
 kbn.stringToJsRegex = str => {
-  if (str[0] !== '/') {
-    return new RegExp('^' + str + '$');
-  }
-
-  const match = str.match(new RegExp('^/(.*?)/(g?i?m?y?)$'));
-
-  if (!match) {
-    throw new Error(`'${str}' is not a valid regular expression.`);
-  }
-
-  return new RegExp(match[1], match[2]);
+  console.warn('Migrate stringToJsRegex to grafana/ui, ');
+  return stringToJsRegex(str);
 };
 
 kbn.toFixed = (value, decimals) => {
diff --git a/public/app/features/templating/datasource_variable.ts b/public/app/features/templating/datasource_variable.ts
index 4424720c7f8..2b326cb1c5c 100644
--- a/public/app/features/templating/datasource_variable.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/templating/datasource_variable.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import kbn from 'app/core/utils/kbn';
 import { Variable, containsVariable, assignModelProperties, variableTypes } from './variable';
+import { stringToJsRegex } from '@grafana/ui';
 
 export class DatasourceVariable implements Variable {
   regex: any;
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export class DatasourceVariable implements Variable {
 
     if (this.regex) {
       regex = this.templateSrv.replace(this.regex, null, 'regex');
-      regex = kbn.stringToJsRegex(regex);
+      regex = stringToJsRegex(regex);
     }
 
     for (let i = 0; i < sources.length; i++) {
diff --git a/public/app/features/templating/query_variable.ts b/public/app/features/templating/query_variable.ts
index 0aec1d8f412..8208345528b 100644
--- a/public/app/features/templating/query_variable.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/templating/query_variable.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import _ from 'lodash';
-import kbn from 'app/core/utils/kbn';
 import { Variable, containsVariable, assignModelProperties, variableTypes } from './variable';
+import { stringToJsRegex } from '@grafana/ui';
 
 function getNoneOption() {
   return { text: 'None', value: '', isNone: true };
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ export class QueryVariable implements Variable {
     options = [];
 
     if (this.regex) {
-      regex = kbn.stringToJsRegex(this.templateSrv.replace(this.regex, {}, 'regex'));
+      regex = stringToJsRegex(this.templateSrv.replace(this.regex, {}, 'regex'));
     }
     for (i = 0; i < metricNames.length; i++) {
       const item = metricNames[i];
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/table/renderer.ts b/public/app/plugins/panel/table/renderer.ts
index e9bf89f45fe..6b6189f7482 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/table/renderer.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/table/renderer.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import _ from 'lodash';
 import moment from 'moment';
-import kbn from 'app/core/utils/kbn';
-import { getValueFormat, getColorFromHexRgbOrName, GrafanaThemeType } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { getValueFormat, getColorFromHexRgbOrName, GrafanaThemeType, stringToJsRegex } from '@grafana/ui';
 
 export class TableRenderer {
   formatters: any[];
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ export class TableRenderer {
       for (let i = 0; i < this.panel.styles.length; i++) {
         const style = this.panel.styles[i];
 
-        const regex = kbn.stringToJsRegex(style.pattern);
+        const regex = stringToJsRegex(style.pattern);
         if (column.text.match(regex)) {
           column.style = style;