diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/index.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/index.ts
index 95b7cf951c4..a16bc33e3bc 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/index.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/index.ts
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ export * from './ArrayDataFrame';
 export * from './DataFrameJSON';
 export * from './StreamingDataFrame';
 export * from './frameComparisons';
+export { anySeriesWithTimeField } from './utils';
diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/utils.test.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/utils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..943a1d900bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/utils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+import { toDataFrame } from './processDataFrame';
+import { FieldType } from '../types';
+import { anySeriesWithTimeField } from './utils';
+
+describe('anySeriesWithTimeField', () => {
+  describe('single frame', () => {
+    test('without time field', () => {
+      const frameA = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [
+          { name: 'name', type: FieldType.string, values: ['a', 'b', 'c'] },
+          { name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] },
+        ],
+      });
+      expect(anySeriesWithTimeField([frameA])).toBeFalsy();
+    });
+
+    test('with time field', () => {
+      const frameA = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [
+          { name: 'time', type: FieldType.time, values: [100, 200, 300] },
+          { name: 'name', type: FieldType.string, values: ['a', 'b', 'c'] },
+          { name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] },
+        ],
+      });
+      expect(anySeriesWithTimeField([frameA])).toBeTruthy();
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('multiple frames', () => {
+    test('without time field', () => {
+      const frameA = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [
+          { name: 'name', type: FieldType.string, values: ['a', 'b', 'c'] },
+          { name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] },
+        ],
+      });
+      const frameB = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [{ name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] }],
+      });
+      expect(anySeriesWithTimeField([frameA, frameB])).toBeFalsy();
+    });
+
+    test('with time field in any frame', () => {
+      const frameA = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [
+          { name: 'time', type: FieldType.time, values: [100, 200, 300] },
+          { name: 'name', type: FieldType.string, values: ['a', 'b', 'c'] },
+          { name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] },
+        ],
+      });
+      const frameB = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [{ name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] }],
+      });
+      const frameC = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [{ name: 'name', type: FieldType.string, values: ['a', 'b', 'c'] }],
+      });
+
+      expect(anySeriesWithTimeField([frameA, frameB, frameC])).toBeTruthy();
+    });
+
+    test('with time field in a all frames', () => {
+      const frameA = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [
+          { name: 'time', type: FieldType.time, values: [100, 200, 300] },
+          { name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] },
+        ],
+      });
+      const frameB = toDataFrame({
+        fields: [
+          { name: 'time', type: FieldType.time, values: [100, 200, 300] },
+          { name: 'name', type: FieldType.string, values: ['a', 'b', 'c'] },
+          { name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3] },
+        ],
+      });
+      expect(anySeriesWithTimeField([frameA, frameB])).toBeTruthy();
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/utils.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/utils.ts
index 5e9f1300791..4044393d839 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/dataframe/utils.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,27 @@
 import { DataFrame, FieldType } from '../types/dataFrame';
+import { getTimeField } from './processDataFrame';
 
-export const isTimeSerie = (frame: DataFrame): boolean => {
+export function isTimeSerie(frame: DataFrame) {
   if (frame.fields.length > 2) {
     return false;
   }
-  return !!frame.fields.find((field) => field.type === FieldType.time);
-};
+  return Boolean(frame.fields.find((field) => field.type === FieldType.time));
+}
 
-export const isTimeSeries = (data: DataFrame[]): boolean => {
+export function isTimeSeries(data: DataFrame[]) {
   return !data.find((frame) => !isTimeSerie(frame));
-};
+}
+
+/**
+ * Indicates if there is any time field in the array of data frames
+ * @param data
+ */
+export function anySeriesWithTimeField(data: DataFrame[]) {
+  for (let i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
+    const timeField = getTimeField(data[i]);
+    if (timeField.timeField !== undefined && timeField.timeIndex !== undefined) {
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/panel/timeseries/TimeSeriesPanel.tsx b/public/app/plugins/panel/timeseries/TimeSeriesPanel.tsx
index c59b50c546f..c66a37bbbc4 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/panel/timeseries/TimeSeriesPanel.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/panel/timeseries/TimeSeriesPanel.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { DashboardCursorSync, Field, PanelProps } from '@grafana/data';
+import { anySeriesWithTimeField, DashboardCursorSync, Field, PanelProps } from '@grafana/data';
 import { TooltipDisplayMode, usePanelContext, TimeSeries, TooltipPlugin, ZoomPlugin } from '@grafana/ui';
 import { getFieldLinksForExplore } from 'app/features/explore/utils/links';
 import React from 'react';
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ export const TimeSeriesPanel: React.FC<TimeSeriesPanelProps> = ({
   onChangeTimeRange,
   replaceVariables,
 }) => {
+  const { sync } = usePanelContext();
+
   const getFieldLinks = (field: Field, rowIndex: number) => {
     return getFieldLinksForExplore({ field, rowIndex, range: timeRange });
   };
 
-  const { sync } = usePanelContext();
-
   if (!data || !data.series?.length) {
     return (
       <div className="panel-empty">
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ export const TimeSeriesPanel: React.FC<TimeSeriesPanelProps> = ({
     );
   }
 
+  if (!anySeriesWithTimeField(data.series)) {
+    return (
+      <div className="panel-empty">
+        <p>Missing time field in the data</p>
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+
   return (
     <TimeSeries
       frames={data.series}