diff --git a/kv/service.go b/kv/service.go
index 4f8ca8770c..f2c576da08 100644
--- a/kv/service.go
+++ b/kv/service.go
@@ -147,6 +147,10 @@ func (s *Service) Initialize(ctx context.Context) error {
 			return err
 		}
 
+		if err := s.initializeVariablesOrgIndex(tx); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
 		if err := s.initializeChecks(ctx, tx); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/kv/variable.go b/kv/variable.go
index c81f46cd4a..1589c6f24f 100644
--- a/kv/variable.go
+++ b/kv/variable.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package kv
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
@@ -9,6 +10,78 @@ import (
 	"github.com/influxdata/influxdb"
 )
 
+// TODO: eradicate this with migration strategy
+var variableOrgsIndex = []byte("variableorgsv1")
+
+func (s *Service) initializeVariablesOrgIndex(tx Tx) error {
+	if _, err := tx.Bucket(variableOrgsIndex); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func decodeVariableOrgsIndexKey(indexKey []byte) (orgID influxdb.ID, variableID influxdb.ID, err error) {
+	if len(indexKey) != 2*influxdb.IDLength {
+		return 0, 0, &influxdb.Error{
+			Code: influxdb.EInvalid,
+			Msg:  "malformed variable orgs index key (please report this error)",
+		}
+	}
+
+	if err := (&orgID).Decode(indexKey[:influxdb.IDLength]); err != nil {
+		return 0, 0, &influxdb.Error{
+			Code: influxdb.EInvalid,
+			Msg:  "bad org id",
+			Err:  influxdb.ErrInvalidID,
+		}
+	}
+
+	if err := (&variableID).Decode(indexKey[influxdb.IDLength:]); err != nil {
+		return 0, 0, &influxdb.Error{
+			Code: influxdb.EInvalid,
+			Msg:  "bad variable id",
+			Err:  influxdb.ErrInvalidID,
+		}
+	}
+
+	return orgID, variableID, nil
+}
+
+func (s *Service) findOrganizationVariables(ctx context.Context, tx Tx, orgID influxdb.ID) ([]*influxdb.Variable, error) {
+	idx, err := tx.Bucket(variableOrgsIndex)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// TODO(leodido): support find options
+	cur, err := idx.Cursor()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	prefix, err := orgID.Encode()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	variables := []*influxdb.Variable{}
+	for k, _ := cur.Seek(prefix); bytes.HasPrefix(k, prefix); k, _ = cur.Next() {
+		_, id, err := decodeVariableOrgsIndexKey(k)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		m, err := s.findVariableByID(ctx, tx, id)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		variables = append(variables, m)
+	}
+
+	return variables, nil
+}
+
 func newVariableUniqueByNameStore() *IndexStore {
 	const resource = "variable"
 
@@ -37,31 +110,6 @@ func newVariableUniqueByNameStore() *IndexStore {
 	}
 }
 
-func (s *Service) findOrganizationVariables(ctx context.Context, tx Tx, orgID influxdb.ID) ([]*influxdb.Variable, error) {
-	prefix, err := orgID.Encode()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	variables := []*influxdb.Variable{}
-	err = s.variableStore.Find(ctx, tx, FindOpts{
-		Prefix: prefix,
-		CaptureFn: func(key []byte, decodedVal interface{}) error {
-			v, ok := decodedVal.(*influxdb.Variable)
-			if err := errUnexpectedDecodeVal(ok); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			variables = append(variables, v)
-			return nil
-		},
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return variables, nil
-}
-
 func (s *Service) findVariables(ctx context.Context, tx Tx, filter influxdb.VariableFilter) ([]*influxdb.Variable, error) {
 	if filter.OrganizationID != nil {
 		return s.findOrganizationVariables(ctx, tx, *filter.OrganizationID)
@@ -176,6 +224,7 @@ func (s *Service) CreateVariable(ctx context.Context, v *influxdb.Variable) erro
 		now := s.Now()
 		v.CreatedAt = now
 		v.UpdatedAt = now
+
 		return s.putVariable(ctx, tx, v)
 	})
 }
@@ -200,6 +249,10 @@ func (s *Service) ReplaceVariable(ctx context.Context, v *influxdb.Variable) err
 }
 
 func (s *Service) putVariable(ctx context.Context, tx Tx, v *influxdb.Variable) error {
+	if err := s.putVariableOrgsIndex(tx, v); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	ent := Entity{
 		ID:    v.ID,
 		Name:  v.Name,
@@ -263,6 +316,74 @@ func (s *Service) UpdateVariable(ctx context.Context, id influxdb.ID, update *in
 // DeleteVariable removes a single variable from the store by its ID
 func (s *Service) DeleteVariable(ctx context.Context, id influxdb.ID) error {
 	return s.kv.Update(ctx, func(tx Tx) error {
+		v, err := s.findVariableByID(ctx, tx, id)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		if err := s.removeVariableOrgsIndex(tx, v); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 		return s.variableStore.DeleteEnt(ctx, tx, Entity{ID: id})
 	})
 }
+
+func encodeVariableOrgsIndex(variable *influxdb.Variable) ([]byte, error) {
+	oID, err := variable.OrganizationID.Encode()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, &influxdb.Error{
+			Err: err,
+			Msg: "bad organization id",
+		}
+	}
+
+	mID, err := variable.ID.Encode()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, &influxdb.Error{
+			Err: err,
+			Msg: "bad variable id",
+		}
+	}
+
+	key := make([]byte, 0, influxdb.IDLength*2)
+	key = append(key, oID...)
+	key = append(key, mID...)
+
+	return key, nil
+}
+
+func (s *Service) putVariableOrgsIndex(tx Tx, variable *influxdb.Variable) error {
+	key, err := encodeVariableOrgsIndex(variable)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	idx, err := tx.Bucket(variableOrgsIndex)
+	if err != nil {
+		return &influxdb.Error{Code: influxdb.EInternal, Err: err}
+	}
+
+	if err := idx.Put(key, nil); err != nil {
+		return &influxdb.Error{Code: influxdb.EInternal, Err: err}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (s *Service) removeVariableOrgsIndex(tx Tx, variable *influxdb.Variable) error {
+	key, err := encodeVariableOrgsIndex(variable)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	idx, err := tx.Bucket(variableOrgsIndex)
+	if err != nil {
+		return &influxdb.Error{Code: influxdb.EInternal, Err: err}
+	}
+
+	if err := idx.Delete(key); err != nil {
+		return &influxdb.Error{Code: influxdb.EInternal, Err: err}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}