diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/visTypes.js b/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/visTypes.js
index 3bc7fd626be..1e2eec23173 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/visTypes.js
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/visTypes.js
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ const visTypes = {
     controlOverrides: {
       x_axis_format: {
         choices: D3_TIME_FORMAT_OPTIONS,
+        default: 'smart_date',
       },
     },
   },
@@ -185,6 +186,7 @@ const visTypes = {
       },
       x_axis_format: {
         choices: D3_TIME_FORMAT_OPTIONS,
+        default: 'smart_date',
       },
     },
   },
@@ -217,8 +219,7 @@ const visTypes = {
     controlOverrides: {
       x_axis_format: {
         choices: D3_TIME_FORMAT_OPTIONS,
-        default: control =>
-          control.choices && control.choices.length > 0 ? [control.choices[0][0]] : null,
+        default: 'smart_date',
       },
     },
   },
@@ -236,6 +237,12 @@ const visTypes = {
       },
       sections.NVD3TimeSeries[1],
     ],
+    controlOverrides: {
+      x_axis_format: {
+        choices: D3_TIME_FORMAT_OPTIONS,
+        default: 'smart_date',
+      },
+    },
   },
 
   area: {
@@ -262,6 +269,12 @@ const visTypes = {
       },
       sections.NVD3TimeSeries[1],
     ],
+    controlOverrides: {
+      x_axis_format: {
+        default: 'smart_date',
+        choices: D3_TIME_FORMAT_OPTIONS,
+      },
+    },
   },
 
   table: {
diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/modules/utils.js b/superset/assets/javascripts/modules/utils.js
index f2dca0a6c29..7349dbb7f8f 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/modules/utils.js
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/modules/utils.js
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@ export function d3FormatPreset(format) {
   return d3.format('.3s');
 }
 export const d3TimeFormatPreset = function (format) {
-  if (format === 'smart_date') {
+  const effFormat = format || 'smart_date';
+  if (effFormat === 'smart_date') {
     return formatDate;
   }
-  const f = d3.time.format(format);
+  const f = d3.time.format(effFormat);
   return function (dttm) {
     const d = UTC(new Date(dttm));
     return f(d);
diff --git a/superset/assets/visualizations/nvd3_vis.js b/superset/assets/visualizations/nvd3_vis.js
index 736de78f56e..1f34d9b797a 100644
--- a/superset/assets/visualizations/nvd3_vis.js
+++ b/superset/assets/visualizations/nvd3_vis.js
@@ -7,14 +7,10 @@ import nv from 'nvd3';
 import { category21 } from '../javascripts/modules/colors';
 import { customizeToolTip, d3TimeFormatPreset, d3FormatPreset, tryNumify } from '../javascripts/modules/utils';
 
-import { D3_TIME_FORMAT_OPTIONS } from '../javascripts/explore/stores/controls';
-
-
 // CSS
 import '../node_modules/nvd3/build/nv.d3.min.css';
 import './nvd3_vis.css';
 
-const timeStampFormats = D3_TIME_FORMAT_OPTIONS.map(opt => opt[0]);
 const minBarWidth = 15;
 const animationTime = 1000;
 
@@ -316,15 +312,15 @@ function nvd3Vis(slice, payload) {
     if (fd.x_log_scale) {
       chart.xScale(d3.scale.log());
     }
-
-    const isTimeSeries = timeStampFormats.indexOf(fd.x_axis_format) > -1;
+    const isTimeSeries = [
+      'line', 'dual_line', 'area', 'compare', 'bar'].indexOf(vizType) >= 0;
     // if x axis format is a date format, rotate label 90 degrees
     if (isTimeSeries) {
       chart.xAxis.rotateLabels(45);
     }
 
     let xAxisFormatter = d3FormatPreset(fd.x_axis_format);
-    if (isTimeSeries && fd.x_axis_format) {
+    if (isTimeSeries) {
       xAxisFormatter = d3TimeFormatPreset(fd.x_axis_format);
     }
     if (chart.x2Axis && chart.x2Axis.tickFormat) {