diff --git a/public/app/features/templating/templateValuesSrv.js b/public/app/features/templating/templateValuesSrv.js
index 489e6291011..7c411377d87 100644
--- a/public/app/features/templating/templateValuesSrv.js
+++ b/public/app/features/templating/templateValuesSrv.js
@@ -244,15 +244,26 @@ function (angular, _, kbn) {
     this.validateVariableSelectionState = function(variable) {
       if (!variable.current) {
         if (!variable.options.length) { return; }
-        return self.setVariableValue(variable, variable.options[0], true);
+        return self.setVariableValue(variable, variable.options[0], false);
       }
 
       if (_.isArray(variable.current.value)) {
         self.selectOptionsForCurrentValue(variable);
+        // updated selected value
+        var selected = {
+          value: _.map(_.filter(variable.options, {selected: true}), function(op) {
+            return op.value;
+          })
+        };
+        // if none pick first
+        if (selected.value.length === 0) {
+          selected = variable.options[0];
+        }
+        return self.setVariableValue(variable, selected, false);
       } else {
         var currentOption = _.findWhere(variable.options, {text: variable.current.text});
         if (currentOption) {
-          return self.setVariableValue(variable, currentOption, true);
+          return self.setVariableValue(variable, currentOption, false);
         } else {
           if (!variable.options.length) { return; }
           return self.setVariableValue(variable, variable.options[0]);
diff --git a/public/test/specs/templateValuesSrv-specs.js b/public/test/specs/templateValuesSrv-specs.js
index 8652ec421b2..79aa2eafd8d 100644
--- a/public/test/specs/templateValuesSrv-specs.js
+++ b/public/test/specs/templateValuesSrv-specs.js
@@ -126,6 +126,46 @@ define([
       });
     });
 
+    describeUpdateVariable('query variable with multi select and new options does not contain some selected values', function(scenario) {
+      scenario.setup(function() {
+        scenario.variable = {
+          type: 'query',
+          query: '',
+          name: 'test',
+          current: {
+            value: ['val1', 'val2', 'val3'],
+            text: 'val1 + val2 + val3'
+          }
+        };
+        scenario.queryResult = [{text: 'val2'}, {text: 'val3'}];
+      });
+
+      it('should update current value', function() {
+        expect(scenario.variable.current.value).to.eql(['val2', 'val3']);
+        expect(scenario.variable.current.text).to.eql('val2 + val3');
+      });
+    });
+
+    describeUpdateVariable('query variable with multi select and new options does not contain any selected values', function(scenario) {
+      scenario.setup(function() {
+        scenario.variable = {
+          type: 'query',
+          query: '',
+          name: 'test',
+          current: {
+            value: ['val1', 'val2', 'val3'],
+            text: 'val1 + val2 + val3'
+          }
+        };
+        scenario.queryResult = [{text: 'val5'}, {text: 'val6'}];
+      });
+
+      it('should update current value with first one', function() {
+        expect(scenario.variable.current.value).to.eql('val5');
+        expect(scenario.variable.current.text).to.eql('val5');
+      });
+    });
+
     describeUpdateVariable('query variable with numeric results', function(scenario) {
       scenario.setup(function() {
         scenario.variable = { type: 'query', query: '', name: 'test', current: {} };