diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query.go
index 7f472eb741a..a8c496a0615 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query.go
@@ -454,7 +454,16 @@ func (p *timeSeriesQueryParser) parseMetrics(model *simplejson.Json) ([]*MetricA
 		metric.Hide = metricJSON.Get("hide").MustBool(false)
 		metric.ID = metricJSON.Get("id").MustString()
 		metric.PipelineAggregate = metricJSON.Get("pipelineAgg").MustString()
-		metric.Settings = simplejson.NewFromAny(metricJSON.Get("settings").MustMap())
+		// In legacy editors, we were storing empty settings values as "null"
+		// The new editor doesn't store empty strings at all
+		// We need to ensures backward compatibility with old queries and remove empty fields
+		settings := metricJSON.Get("settings").MustMap()
+		for k, v := range settings {
+			if v == "null" {
+				delete(settings, k)
+			}
+		}
+		metric.Settings = simplejson.NewFromAny(settings)
 		metric.Meta = simplejson.NewFromAny(metricJSON.Get("meta").MustMap())
 		metric.Type, err = metricJSON.Get("type").String()
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query_test.go
index e3cb75019bc..f6c3e61815d 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/elasticsearch/time_series_query_test.go
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ func TestExecuteTimeSeriesQuery(t *testing.T) {
 			require.Equal(t, dateHistogramAgg.ExtendedBounds.Min, fromMs)
 			require.Equal(t, dateHistogramAgg.ExtendedBounds.Max, toMs)
 		})
-
 		t.Run("Should clean settings from null values (from frontend tests)", func(t *testing.T) {
 			c := newFakeClient()
 			_, err := executeTsdbQuery(c, `{
@@ -52,8 +51,7 @@ func TestExecuteTimeSeriesQuery(t *testing.T) {
 			firstLevel := sr.Aggs[0]
 			secondLevel := firstLevel.Aggregation.Aggs[0]
 			require.Equal(t, secondLevel.Aggregation.Aggregation.(*es.MetricAggregation).Settings["script"], "1")
-			// FIXME: This is a bug in implementation, missing is set to "null" instead of being removed
-			// require.Equal(t, secondLevel.Aggregation.Aggregation.(*es.MetricAggregation).Settings["missing"], nil)
+			require.NotContains(t, secondLevel.Aggregation.Aggregation.(*es.MetricAggregation).Settings, "missing")
 		})
 
 		t.Run("With multiple bucket aggs", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/QueryBuilder.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/QueryBuilder.test.ts
index e05cc478f34..b091f5a9c00 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/QueryBuilder.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/QueryBuilder.test.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ describe('ElasticQueryBuilder', () => {
       // The following `missing: null as any` is because previous versions of the DS where
       // storing null in the query model when inputting an empty string,
       // which were then removed in the query builder.
-      // The new version doesn't store empty strings at all. This tests ensures backward compatinility.
+      // The new version doesn't store empty strings at all. This tests ensures backward compatibility.
       metrics: [{ type: 'avg', id: '0', settings: { missing: null as any, script: '1' } }],
       timeField: '@timestamp',
       bucketAggs: [{ type: 'date_histogram', field: '@timestamp', id: '1' }],