diff --git a/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.js b/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ed5d9cd22f16e..00000000000000
--- a/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,88 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-import moment from 'moment';
-const { duration: d } = moment;
-
-// these are the rounding rules used by roundInterval()
-
-const roundingRules = [
-  [ d(500, 'ms'), d(100, 'ms') ],
-  [ d(5, 'second'), d(1, 'second') ],
-  [ d(7.5, 'second'), d(5, 'second') ],
-  [ d(15, 'second'), d(10, 'second') ],
-  [ d(45, 'second'), d(30, 'second') ],
-  [ d(3, 'minute'), d(1, 'minute') ],
-  [ d(9, 'minute'), d(5, 'minute') ],
-  [ d(20, 'minute'), d(10, 'minute') ],
-  [ d(45, 'minute'), d(30, 'minute') ],
-  [ d(2, 'hour'), d(1, 'hour') ],
-  [ d(6, 'hour'), d(3, 'hour') ],
-  [ d(24, 'hour'), d(12, 'hour') ],
-  [ d(1, 'week'), d(1, 'd') ],
-  [ d(3, 'week'), d(1, 'week') ],
-  [ d(1, 'year'), d(1, 'month') ],
-  [ Infinity, d(1, 'year') ]
-];
-
-const revRoundingRules = roundingRules.slice(0).reverse();
-
-function find(rules, check, last) {
-  function pick(buckets, duration) {
-    const target = duration / buckets;
-    let lastResp;
-
-    for (let i = 0; i < rules.length; i++) {
-      const rule = rules[i];
-      const resp = check(rule[0], rule[1], target);
-
-      if (resp == null) {
-        if (!last) continue;
-        if (lastResp) return lastResp;
-        break;
-      }
-
-      if (!last) return resp;
-      lastResp = resp;
-    }
-
-    // fallback to just a number of milliseconds, ensure ms is >= 1
-    const ms = Math.max(Math.floor(target), 1);
-    return moment.duration(ms, 'ms');
-  }
-
-  return function (buckets, duration) {
-    const interval = pick(buckets, duration);
-    if (interval) return moment.duration(interval._data);
-  };
-}
-
-export const calcAutoInterval = {
-  near: find(revRoundingRules, function near(bound, interval, target) {
-    if (bound > target) return interval;
-  }, true),
-
-  lessThan: find(revRoundingRules, function (bound, interval, target) {
-    if (interval < target) return interval;
-  }),
-
-  atLeast: find(revRoundingRules, function atLeast(bound, interval, target) {
-    if (interval <= target) return interval;
-  }),
-};
diff --git a/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.test.ts b/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..7c95da6a74dd37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+import moment from 'moment';
+
+import { calcAutoIntervalLessThan, calcAutoIntervalNear } from './calc_auto_interval';
+
+describe('calcAutoIntervalNear', () => {
+  test('1h/0 buckets = 0ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(0, Number(moment.duration(1, 'h')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('undefined/100 buckets = 0ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(0, undefined as any);
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('1ms/100 buckets = 1ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(100, Number(moment.duration(1, 'ms')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('200ms/100 buckets = 2ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(100, Number(moment.duration(200, 'ms')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  test('1s/1000 buckets = 1ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(1000, Number(moment.duration(1, 's')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('1000h/1000 buckets = 1h buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(1000, Number(moment.duration(1000, 'hours')));
+    expect(interval.asHours()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('1h/100 buckets = 30s buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(100, Number(moment.duration(1, 'hours')));
+    expect(interval.asSeconds()).toBe(30);
+  });
+
+  test('1d/25 buckets = 1h buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(25, Number(moment.duration(1, 'day')));
+    expect(interval.asHours()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('1y/1000 buckets = 12h buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(1000, Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')));
+    expect(interval.asHours()).toBe(12);
+  });
+
+  test('1y/10000 buckets = 1h buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(10000, Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')));
+    expect(interval.asHours()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('1y/100000 buckets = 5m buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalNear(100000, Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')));
+    expect(interval.asMinutes()).toBe(5);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('calcAutoIntervalLessThan', () => {
+  test('1h/0 buckets = 0ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(0, Number(moment.duration(1, 'h')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('undefined/100 buckets = 0ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(0, undefined as any);
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('1ms/100 buckets = 1ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(100, Number(moment.duration(1, 'ms')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('200ms/100 buckets = 2ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(100, Number(moment.duration(200, 'ms')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  test('1s/1000 buckets = 1ms buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(1000, Number(moment.duration(1, 's')));
+    expect(interval.asMilliseconds()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('1000h/1000 buckets = 1h buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(1000, Number(moment.duration(1000, 'hours')));
+    expect(interval.asHours()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('1h/100 buckets = 30s buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(100, Number(moment.duration(1, 'hours')));
+    expect(interval.asSeconds()).toBe(30);
+  });
+
+  test('1d/25 buckets = 30m buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(25, Number(moment.duration(1, 'day')));
+    expect(interval.asMinutes()).toBe(30);
+  });
+
+  test('1y/1000 buckets = 3h buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(1000, Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')));
+    expect(interval.asHours()).toBe(3);
+  });
+
+  test('1y/10000 buckets = 30m buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(10000, Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')));
+    expect(interval.asMinutes()).toBe(30);
+  });
+
+  test('1y/100000 buckets = 5m buckets', () => {
+    const interval = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(100000, Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')));
+    expect(interval.asMinutes()).toBe(5);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.ts b/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..c3478772669c49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/public/time_buckets/calc_auto_interval.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+import moment from 'moment';
+
+const boundsDescending = [
+  {
+    bound: Infinity,
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(1, 'year')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(1, 'month')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(3, 'week')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(1, 'week')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(1, 'week')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(1, 'd')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(24, 'hour')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(12, 'hour')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(6, 'hour')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(3, 'hour')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(2, 'hour')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(1, 'hour')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(45, 'minute')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(30, 'minute')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(20, 'minute')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(10, 'minute')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(9, 'minute')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(5, 'minute')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(3, 'minute')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(1, 'minute')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(45, 'second')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(30, 'second')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(15, 'second')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(10, 'second')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(7.5, 'second')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(5, 'second')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(5, 'second')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(1, 'second')),
+  },
+  {
+    bound: Number(moment.duration(500, 'ms')),
+    interval: Number(moment.duration(100, 'ms')),
+  },
+];
+
+function getPerBucketMs(count: number, duration: number) {
+  const ms = duration / count;
+  return isFinite(ms) ? ms : NaN;
+}
+
+function normalizeMinimumInterval(targetMs: number) {
+  const value = isNaN(targetMs) ? 0 : Math.max(Math.floor(targetMs), 1);
+  return moment.duration(value);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Using some simple rules we pick a "pretty" interval that will
+ * produce around the number of buckets desired given a time range.
+ *
+ * @param targetBucketCount desired number of buckets
+ * @param duration time range the agg covers
+ */
+export function calcAutoIntervalNear(targetBucketCount: number, duration: number) {
+  const targetPerBucketMs = getPerBucketMs(targetBucketCount, duration);
+
+  // Find the first bound which is smaller than our target.
+  const lowerBoundIndex = boundsDescending.findIndex(({ bound }) => {
+    const boundMs = Number(bound);
+    return boundMs <= targetPerBucketMs;
+  });
+
+  // The bound immediately preceeding that lower bound contains the
+  // interval most closely matching our target.
+  if (lowerBoundIndex !== -1) {
+    const nearestInterval = boundsDescending[lowerBoundIndex - 1].interval;
+    return moment.duration(nearestInterval);
+  }
+
+  // If the target is smaller than any of our bounds, then we'll use it for the interval as-is.
+  return normalizeMinimumInterval(targetPerBucketMs);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Pick a "pretty" interval that produces no more than the maxBucketCount
+ * for the given time range.
+ *
+ * @param maxBucketCount maximum number of buckets to create
+ * @param duration amount of time covered by the agg
+ */
+export function calcAutoIntervalLessThan(maxBucketCount: number, duration: number) {
+  const maxPerBucketMs = getPerBucketMs(maxBucketCount, duration);
+
+  for (const { interval } of boundsDescending) {
+    // Find the highest interval which meets our per bucket limitation.
+    if (interval <= maxPerBucketMs) {
+      return moment.duration(interval);
+    }
+  }
+
+  // If the max is smaller than any of our intervals, then we'll use it for the interval as-is.
+  return normalizeMinimumInterval(maxPerBucketMs);
+}
diff --git a/src/ui/public/time_buckets/time_buckets.js b/src/ui/public/time_buckets/time_buckets.js
index a5af6c3294ed35..0da2fc868c9770 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/time_buckets/time_buckets.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/time_buckets/time_buckets.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import _ from 'lodash';
 import moment from 'moment';
 import chrome from '../chrome';
 import { parseInterval } from '../utils/parse_interval';
-import { calcAutoInterval } from './calc_auto_interval';
+import { calcAutoIntervalLessThan, calcAutoIntervalNear } from './calc_auto_interval';
 import {
   convertDurationToNormalizedEsInterval,
   convertIntervalToEsInterval,
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ TimeBuckets.prototype.getInterval = function (useNormalizedEsInterval = true) {
   function readInterval() {
     const interval = self._i;
     if (moment.isDuration(interval)) return interval;
-    return calcAutoInterval.near(config.get('histogram:barTarget'), duration);
+    return calcAutoIntervalNear(config.get('histogram:barTarget'), Number(duration));
   }
 
   // check to see if the interval should be scaled, and scale it if so
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ TimeBuckets.prototype.getInterval = function (useNormalizedEsInterval = true) {
     let scaled;
 
     if (approxLen > maxLength) {
-      scaled = calcAutoInterval.lessThan(maxLength, duration);
+      scaled = calcAutoIntervalLessThan(maxLength, Number(duration));
     } else {
       return interval;
     }