diff --git a/superset-frontend/cypress-base/cypress/integration/explore/link.test.ts b/superset-frontend/cypress-base/cypress/integration/explore/link.test.ts
index fb3445fc6366f..bc18f2c410f2c 100644
--- a/superset-frontend/cypress-base/cypress/integration/explore/link.test.ts
+++ b/superset-frontend/cypress-base/cypress/integration/explore/link.test.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import { HEALTH_POP_FORM_DATA_DEFAULTS } from './visualizations/shared.helper';
 const apiURL = (endpoint: string, queryObject: Record<string, unknown>) =>
   `${endpoint}?q=${rison.encode(queryObject)}`;
 
-describe('Test explore links', () => {
+describe.skip('Test explore links', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     cy.login();
     interceptChart({ legacy: true }).as('chartData');
diff --git a/superset-frontend/src/explore/ExplorePage.tsx b/superset-frontend/src/explore/ExplorePage.tsx
index d8aefda1345bc..6425f4c49dbef 100644
--- a/superset-frontend/src/explore/ExplorePage.tsx
+++ b/superset-frontend/src/explore/ExplorePage.tsx
@@ -19,27 +19,45 @@
 import React, { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useDispatch } from 'react-redux';
 import { useLocation } from 'react-router-dom';
-import { makeApi, t } from '@superset-ui/core';
+import { makeApi, t, isDefined, JsonObject } from '@superset-ui/core';
 import Loading from 'src/components/Loading';
 import { addDangerToast } from 'src/components/MessageToasts/actions';
-import { isNullish } from 'src/utils/common';
 import { getUrlParam } from 'src/utils/urlUtils';
 import { URL_PARAMS } from 'src/constants';
+import { getClientErrorObject } from 'src/utils/getClientErrorObject';
 import { getParsedExploreURLParams } from './exploreUtils/getParsedExploreURLParams';
 import { hydrateExplore } from './actions/hydrateExplore';
 import ExploreViewContainer from './components/ExploreViewContainer';
 import { ExploreResponsePayload } from './types';
 import { fallbackExploreInitialData } from './fixtures';
 
-const loadErrorMessage = t('Failed to load chart data.');
+const isResult = (rv: JsonObject): rv is ExploreResponsePayload =>
+  rv?.result?.form_data &&
+  rv?.result?.dataset &&
+  isDefined(rv?.result?.dataset?.id);
 
-const fetchExploreData = (exploreUrlParams: URLSearchParams) =>
-  makeApi<{}, ExploreResponsePayload>({
-    method: 'GET',
-    endpoint: 'api/v1/explore/',
-  })(exploreUrlParams);
+const fetchExploreData = async (exploreUrlParams: URLSearchParams) => {
+  try {
+    const rv = await makeApi<{}, ExploreResponsePayload>({
+      method: 'GET',
+      endpoint: 'api/v1/explore/',
+    })(exploreUrlParams);
+    if (isResult(rv)) {
+      return rv;
+    }
+    throw new Error(t('Failed to load chart data.'));
+  } catch (err) {
+    // todo: encapsulate the error handler
+    const clientError = await getClientErrorObject(err);
+    throw new Error(
+      clientError.message ||
+        clientError.error ||
+        t('Failed to load chart data.'),
+    );
+  }
+};
 
-const ExplorePage = () => {
+export default function ExplorePage() {
   const [isLoaded, setIsLoaded] = useState(false);
   const isExploreInitialized = useRef(false);
   const dispatch = useDispatch();
@@ -51,16 +69,11 @@ const ExplorePage = () => {
     if (!isExploreInitialized.current || isSaveAction) {
       fetchExploreData(exploreUrlParams)
         .then(({ result }) => {
-          if (isNullish(result.dataset?.id) && isNullish(result.dataset?.uid)) {
-            dispatch(hydrateExplore(fallbackExploreInitialData));
-            dispatch(addDangerToast(loadErrorMessage));
-          } else {
-            dispatch(hydrateExplore(result));
-          }
+          dispatch(hydrateExplore(result));
         })
-        .catch(() => {
+        .catch(err => {
           dispatch(hydrateExplore(fallbackExploreInitialData));
-          dispatch(addDangerToast(loadErrorMessage));
+          dispatch(addDangerToast(err.message));
         })
         .finally(() => {
           setIsLoaded(true);
@@ -73,6 +86,4 @@ const ExplorePage = () => {
     return <Loading />;
   }
   return <ExploreViewContainer />;
-};
-
-export default ExplorePage;
+}
diff --git a/superset-frontend/src/explore/actions/hydrateExplore.ts b/superset-frontend/src/explore/actions/hydrateExplore.ts
index ab5afde665bbf..b16ac30a7bc10 100644
--- a/superset-frontend/src/explore/actions/hydrateExplore.ts
+++ b/superset-frontend/src/explore/actions/hydrateExplore.ts
@@ -56,8 +56,7 @@ export const hydrateExplore =
     if (dashboardId) {
       initialFormData.dashboardId = dashboardId;
     }
-    const initialDatasource =
-      datasources?.[initialFormData.datasource] ?? dataset;
+    const initialDatasource = dataset;
 
     const initialExploreState = {
       form_data: initialFormData,