diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.test.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.test.ts
index 276f24433c67..62f47a21c85b 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.test.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,46 @@ describe('metric_visualization', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('#getConfiguration', () => {
+    it('can add a metric when there is no accessor', () => {
+      expect(
+        metricVisualization.getConfiguration({
+          state: {
+            accessor: undefined,
+            layerId: 'l1',
+          },
+          layerId: 'l1',
+          frame: mockFrame(),
+        })
+      ).toEqual({
+        groups: [
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            supportsMoreColumns: true,
+          }),
+        ],
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('is not allowed to add a metric once one accessor is set', () => {
+      expect(
+        metricVisualization.getConfiguration({
+          state: {
+            accessor: 'a',
+            layerId: 'l1',
+          },
+          layerId: 'l1',
+          frame: mockFrame(),
+        })
+      ).toEqual({
+        groups: [
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            supportsMoreColumns: false,
+          }),
+        ],
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('#setDimension', () => {
     it('sets the accessor', () => {
       expect(
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.tsx
index 44256df5aed6..73b8019a31ea 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/lens/public/metric_visualization/metric_visualization.tsx
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ export const metricVisualization: Visualization<State, PersistableState> = {
           groupLabel: i18n.translate('xpack.lens.metric.label', { defaultMessage: 'Metric' }),
           layerId: props.state.layerId,
           accessors: props.state.accessor ? [props.state.accessor] : [],
-          supportsMoreColumns: false,
+          supportsMoreColumns: !props.state.accessor,
           filterOperations: (op: OperationMetadata) => !op.isBucketed && op.dataType === 'number',
         },
       ],