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Although math anxiety (MA) and math performance are generally negatively correlated (Barroso et al., 2021), several studies reported variability in the strength of this association (Lyons & Beilock, 2012a; Tsui & Mazzocco, 2006; Wang et al., 2015). The present study investigated emotion regulation and motivation as potential mechanisms underlying this heterogeneity, particularly with regard to the attention patterns underlying successful math performance. A sample of 207 elementary and middle school students completed a math problem-solving task, during which their attention was measured using eye-tracking. Students’ trait level and state level emotion regulation and motivation were assessed using self-reports and physiological measures, respectively. Our findings revealed that the use of reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy mitigated attentional interference during math problem-solving, which in turn attenuated performance deficits among students with high MA. In addition, students with high MA exhibited more avoidance of the math problems only if their physiological pattern indicated low state motivation. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing both reappraisal and motivation as potential intervention targets to combat math deficits among students with high MA.