diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/lib/private/env-tokens.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/lib/private/env-tokens.ts
index e0157393df489..15fcda4886791 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/lib/private/env-tokens.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/lib/private/env-tokens.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@ class StackDependentToken implements cdk.IResolvable {
   public resolve(context: cdk.IResolveContext) {
     const stackValue = this.fn(cdk.Stack.of(context.scope));
 
-    if (cdk.Token.isUnresolved(stackValue) || stackValue === this.originalValue) {
+    // Don't render if the values are definitely the same. If the stack
+    // is unresolved we don't know, better output the value.
+    if (!cdk.Token.isUnresolved(stackValue) && stackValue === this.originalValue) {
       return undefined;
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/test/test.cross-environment.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/test/test.cross-environment.ts
index a35f34d953304..3a970d80bb20e 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/test/test.cross-environment.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudwatch/test/test.cross-environment.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,38 @@ export = {
 
       test.done();
     },
+
+    'metric with explicit account and region will render in environment agnostic stack'(test: Test) {
+      // GIVEN
+      const graph = new GraphWidget({
+        left: [
+          a.with({ account: '1234', region: 'us-north-5' })
+        ],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      graphMetricsAre(test, new Stack(), graph, [
+        [ 'Test', 'ACount', { accountId: '1234', region: 'us-north-5' }],
+      ]);
+
+      test.done();
+    },
+
+    'metric attached to agnostic stack will not render in agnostic stack'(test: Test) {
+      // GIVEN
+      const graph = new GraphWidget({
+        left: [
+          a.attachTo(new Stack()),
+        ],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      graphMetricsAre(test, new Stack(), graph, [
+        [ 'Test', 'ACount' ],
+      ]);
+
+      test.done();
+    },
   },
 
   'in alarms': {