diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.test.ts
index 7deb9b62aff..ab3d90b1a9f 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.test.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
 } from '@grafana/data';
 import {
   BackendDataSourceResponse,
+  config,
   FetchResponse,
   setBackendSrv,
   setDataSourceSrv,
@@ -64,6 +65,74 @@ describe('Tempo data source', () => {
   afterEach(() => (console.error = origError));
   beforeEach(() => (console.error = consoleErrorMock));
 
+  describe('runs correctly', () => {
+    config.featureToggles.traceQLStreaming = true;
+    jest.spyOn(TempoDatasource.prototype, 'isFeatureAvailable').mockImplementation(() => true);
+    const handleStreamingSearch = jest.spyOn(TempoDatasource.prototype, 'handleStreamingSearch');
+    const request = jest.spyOn(TempoDatasource.prototype, '_request');
+    const templateSrv: TemplateSrv = { replace: (s: string) => s } as unknown as TemplateSrv;
+
+    const range = {
+      from: dateTime(new Date(2022, 8, 13, 16, 0, 0, 0)),
+      to: dateTime(new Date(2022, 8, 13, 16, 15, 0, 0)),
+      raw: { from: '15m', to: 'now' },
+    };
+    const traceqlQuery = {
+      targets: [{ refId: 'refid1', queryType: 'traceql', query: '{}' }],
+      range,
+    };
+    const traceqlSearchQuery = {
+      targets: [
+        {
+          refId: 'refid1',
+          queryType: 'traceqlSearch',
+          filters: [
+            {
+              id: 'service-name',
+              operator: '=',
+              scope: TraceqlSearchScope.Resource,
+              tag: 'service.name',
+              valueType: 'string',
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      ],
+      range,
+    };
+
+    it('for traceql queries when live is enabled', async () => {
+      config.liveEnabled = true;
+      const ds = new TempoDatasource(defaultSettings, templateSrv);
+      await lastValueFrom(ds.query(traceqlQuery as DataQueryRequest<TempoQuery>));
+      expect(handleStreamingSearch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+    });
+
+    it('for traceqlSearch queries when live is enabled', async () => {
+      config.liveEnabled = true;
+      const ds = new TempoDatasource(defaultSettings, templateSrv);
+      await lastValueFrom(ds.query(traceqlSearchQuery as DataQueryRequest<TempoQuery>));
+      expect(handleStreamingSearch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+    });
+
+    it('for traceql queries when live is not enabled', async () => {
+      config.liveEnabled = false;
+      const ds = new TempoDatasource(defaultSettings, templateSrv);
+      await lastValueFrom(ds.query(traceqlQuery as DataQueryRequest<TempoQuery>));
+      expect(handleStreamingSearch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    it('for traceqlSearch queries when live is not enabled', async () => {
+      config.liveEnabled = false;
+      const ds = new TempoDatasource(defaultSettings, templateSrv);
+      await lastValueFrom(ds.query(traceqlSearchQuery as DataQueryRequest<TempoQuery>));
+      expect(handleStreamingSearch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    });
+  });
+
   it('returns empty response when traceId is empty', async () => {
     const templateSrv: TemplateSrv = { replace: jest.fn() } as unknown as TemplateSrv;
     const ds = new TempoDatasource(defaultSettings, templateSrv);
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts
index c1b61a559b0..1825d7ede6d 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/tempo/datasource.ts
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ export class TempoDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<TempoQuery, TempoJson
    * @param featureName - the name of the feature to consider
    * @return true if the feature is available, false otherwise
    */
-  private isFeatureAvailable(featureName: FeatureName) {
+  isFeatureAvailable(featureName: FeatureName) {
     // We know for old Tempo instances we don't know their version, so resort to default
     const actualVersion = this.tempoVersion ?? defaultTempoVersion;
 
@@ -349,7 +349,11 @@ export class TempoDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<TempoQuery, TempoJson
             streaming: config.featureToggles.traceQLStreaming,
           });
 
-          if (config.featureToggles.traceQLStreaming && this.isFeatureAvailable(FeatureName.streaming)) {
+          if (
+            config.featureToggles.traceQLStreaming &&
+            this.isFeatureAvailable(FeatureName.streaming) &&
+            config.liveEnabled
+          ) {
             subQueries.push(this.handleStreamingSearch(options, traceqlSearchTargets, queryValueFromFilters));
           } else {
             subQueries.push(
@@ -599,7 +603,11 @@ export class TempoDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<TempoQuery, TempoJson
     },
     queryValue: string
   ): Observable<DataQueryResponse> => {
-    if (config.featureToggles.traceQLStreaming && this.isFeatureAvailable(FeatureName.streaming)) {
+    if (
+      config.featureToggles.traceQLStreaming &&
+      this.isFeatureAvailable(FeatureName.streaming) &&
+      config.liveEnabled
+    ) {
       return this.handleStreamingSearch(options, targets.traceql, queryValue);
     } else {
       return this._request('/api/search', {
@@ -690,11 +698,7 @@ export class TempoDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<TempoQuery, TempoJson
     return await lastValueFrom(this._request(url, params, { method: 'GET', hideFromInspector: true }));
   }
 
-  private _request(
-    apiUrl: string,
-    data?: unknown,
-    options?: Partial<BackendSrvRequest>
-  ): Observable<Record<string, any>> {
+  _request(apiUrl: string, data?: unknown, options?: Partial<BackendSrvRequest>): Observable<Record<string, any>> {
     const params = data ? urlUtil.serializeParams(data) : '';
     const url = `${this.instanceSettings.url}${apiUrl}${params.length ? `?${params}` : ''}`;
     const req = { ...options, url };