The country legend addressed Bey earning not one CMA Awards nomination -- despite having one of the biggest country albums and songs of the year -- confessing to Variety that she didn't realize the country newcomer was left out until recently.

While members of the Beyhive voiced their outrage after Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" was left off the nominations list, Dolly speculates the lack of honors has more to do with the amount of talent in the country scene right now ... that it's not a reflection of Bey's ability.

She said ... "There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that."

Dolly defends "Cowboy Carter" as a "wonderful album" Beyoncé should be proud of ... but she's unconvinced Bey was shut out "on purpose." Remember, Beyoncé got Dolly's blessing to rework her country hit "Jolene" for the new album.

As Dolly sees it ... many in the country scene welcomed Beyoncé and her passion project with open arms. However, Dolly felt the voters who nominated this year's group of artists likely wanted to reward regular fixtures in the genre ... not just a "specialty album."

Dolly may have failed to take into account the complicated history Bey has with the CMAs.

Beyoncé was infamously booed during her 2016 appearance at the awards show, where she took the stage with The Chicks to sing her song, "Daddy Lessons."

After dropping "Cowboy Carter," Bey hinted this unpleasant experience inspired her to make a full country album ... going on to break several records on the country charts.