diff --git a/docs/sources/datasources/aws-cloudwatch/_index.md b/docs/sources/datasources/aws-cloudwatch/_index.md
index 635bc61cb2e..9a2226da954 100644
--- a/docs/sources/datasources/aws-cloudwatch/_index.md
+++ b/docs/sources/datasources/aws-cloudwatch/_index.md
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ Here is a minimal policy example:
         "cloudwatch:ListMetrics",
         "cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics",
         "cloudwatch:GetMetricData"
+        "cloudwatch:GetInsightRuleReport"
       ],
       "Resource": "*"
     },
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder.go
index ab5cbed0505..34c6a8b246f 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) buildMetricDataQuery(query *cloudWatchQuery) (*clou
 
 	if query.Expression != "" {
 		mdq.Expression = aws.String(query.Expression)
+		mdq.Period = aws.Int64(int64(query.Period))
 	} else {
 		if query.isSearchExpression() {
 			mdq.Expression = aws.String(buildSearchExpression(query, query.Statistic))
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go
index 407dc917307..80ffb3ec54b 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go
@@ -4,9 +4,32 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 func TestMetricDataQueryBuilder_buildSearchExpression(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("buildMetricDataQuery", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Run("should set period in user defined expression", func(t *testing.T) {
+			executor := newExecutor(nil, nil, newTestConfig(), fakeSessionCache{})
+			query := &cloudWatchQuery{
+				Namespace:  "AWS/EC2",
+				MetricName: "CPUUtilization",
+				Dimensions: map[string][]string{
+					"LoadBalancer": {"lb1"},
+				},
+				Period:     300,
+				Expression: "SUM([a,b])",
+				MatchExact: true,
+			}
+			query.MatchExact = false
+			mdq, err := executor.buildMetricDataQuery(query)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Nil(t, mdq.MetricStat)
+			assert.Equal(t, int64(300), *mdq.Period)
+			assert.Equal(t, `SUM([a,b])`, *mdq.Expression)
+		})
+	})
+
 	t.Run("Query should be matched exact", func(t *testing.T) {
 		const matchExact = true