diff --git a/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/data.js b/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/data.js
index 3a88c5365d0a3..b5020df37e910 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/data.js
+++ b/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/data.js
@@ -265,18 +265,9 @@ define(function (require) {
      * @param thing {String} Data object key
      * @returns {*} Data object value
      */
-    Data.prototype.get = function (thing) {
-      var data;
-
-      if (this.data.rows) {
-        data = this.data.rows;
-      } else if (this.data.columns) {
-        data = this.data.columns;
-      } else {
-        data = [this.data];
-      }
-
-      return _.pluck(data, thing)[0];
+    Data.prototype.get = function (thing, def) {
+      var source = (this.data.rows || this.data.columns || [this.data])[0];
+      return _.get(source, thing, def);
     };
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/handler/types/point_series.js b/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/handler/types/point_series.js
index c5fa17ae6bd60..ed27c00f335e7 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/handler/types/point_series.js
+++ b/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/handler/types/point_series.js
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 define(function (require) {
   return function ColumnHandler(d3, Private) {
-    var $ = require('jquery');
-
     var injectZeros = Private(require('components/vislib/components/zero_injection/inject_zeros'));
     var Handler = Private(require('components/vislib/lib/handler/handler'));
     var Data = Private(require('components/vislib/lib/data'));
@@ -45,7 +43,8 @@ define(function (require) {
             el   : vis.el,
             yMin : data.getYMin(),
             yMax : data.getYMax(),
-            _attr: vis._attr
+            _attr: vis._attr,
+            tickFormat: data.get('yAxisFormatter')
           })
         });
       };
diff --git a/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/y_axis.js b/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/y_axis.js
index 06a44e8b0735a..90ce6918c513f 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/y_axis.js
+++ b/src/kibana/components/vislib/lib/y_axis.js
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ define(function (require) {
   return function YAxisFactory(d3, Private) {
     var _ = require('lodash');
     var $ = require('jquery');
-    var numeral = require('numeral');
     var errors = require('errors');
 
     var ErrorHandler = Private(require('components/vislib/lib/_error_handler'));
@@ -18,6 +17,7 @@ define(function (require) {
       this.el = args.el;
       this.yMin = args.yMin;
       this.yMax = args.yMax;
+      this.yAxisFormatter = args.yAxisFormatter;
       this._attr = args._attr || {};
     }
 
@@ -103,18 +103,11 @@ define(function (require) {
       .nice();
     };
 
-    /**
-     * By default, d3.format('s') returns billion values
-     * with a `G` instead of a `B`. @method formatAxisLabel returns
-     * billion values with a B instead of a G. Else, it defaults
-     * to the d3.format('s') value.
-     *
-     * @method formatAxisLabel
-     * @param d {Number}
-     * @returns {*}
-     */
-    YAxis.prototype.formatAxisLabel = function (d) {
-      return numeral(d).format('0.[0]a');
+    YAxis.prototype.tickFormat = function () {
+      var isPercentage = this._attr.mode === 'percentage';
+      if (isPercentage) return d3.format('%');
+      if (this.yAxisFormatter) return this.yAxisFormatter;
+      return d3.format('n');
     };
 
     /**
@@ -126,16 +119,6 @@ define(function (require) {
      */
     YAxis.prototype.getYAxis = function (height) {
       var yScale = this.getYScale(height);
-      var isPercentage = (this._attr.mode === 'percentage');
-      var tickFormat;
-
-      if (isPercentage) {
-        tickFormat = d3.format('%');
-      } else if (this.yMax <= 100 && this.yMin >= -100 && !isPercentage) {
-        tickFormat = d3.format('n');
-      } else {
-        tickFormat = this.formatAxisLabel;
-      }
 
       // y scale should never be `NaN`
       if (!yScale || _.isNaN(yScale)) {
@@ -145,7 +128,7 @@ define(function (require) {
       // Create the d3 yAxis function
       this.yAxis = d3.svg.axis()
         .scale(yScale)
-        .tickFormat(tickFormat)
+        .tickFormat(this.tickFormat())
         .ticks(this.tickScale(height))
         .orient('left');
 
diff --git a/src/kibana/utils/_mixins_chainable.js b/src/kibana/utils/_mixins_chainable.js
index 1ec07749c537d..27285c8f2b41d 100644
--- a/src/kibana/utils/_mixins_chainable.js
+++ b/src/kibana/utils/_mixins_chainable.js
@@ -250,11 +250,18 @@ define(function (require) {
     },
 
     /**
-     * Shortcut for the simple version of _.deepGet
+     * Shortcut for the simple version of _.deepGet with support for default
+     * values added
+     *
+     * @param {obj} any - the value to read from
+     * @param {string|array} path - the location of the value to return as
+     *                           a dot-notated string or array of keys.
+     * @param {any} def - when the value is null or undefined return this instead
      * @return {any}
      */
-    get: function (obj, path) {
-      return _.deepGet(obj, path);
+    get: function (obj, path, def) {
+      var val = _.deepGet(obj, path);
+      return (val == null && def != null) ? def : val;
     },
 
     /**
diff --git a/test/unit/specs/vislib/lib/y_axis.js b/test/unit/specs/vislib/lib/y_axis.js
index 3a7f2233676f3..2784dcb5ffc26 100644
--- a/test/unit/specs/vislib/lib/y_axis.js
+++ b/test/unit/specs/vislib/lib/y_axis.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ define(function (require) {
   var YAxis;
   var Data;
   var el;
+  var buildYAxis;
   var yAxis;
   var yAxisDiv;
 
@@ -70,14 +71,18 @@ define(function (require) {
       defaultYMin: true
     });
 
-    yAxis = new YAxis({
-      el: node,
-      yMin: dataObj.getYMin(),
-      yMax: dataObj.getYMax(),
-      _attr: {
-        margin: { top: 0, right: 0, bottom: 0, left: 0 }
-      }
-    });
+    buildYAxis = function (params) {
+      return new YAxis(_.merge({}, params, {
+        el: node,
+        yMin: dataObj.getYMin(),
+        yMax: dataObj.getYMax(),
+        _attr: {
+          margin: { top: 0, right: 0, bottom: 0, left: 0 }
+        }
+      }));
+    };
+
+    yAxis = buildYAxis();
   }
 
   describe('Vislib yAxis Class Test Suite', function () {
@@ -206,20 +211,6 @@ define(function (require) {
       });
     });
 
-    describe('formatAxisLabel method', function () {
-      var num = 1e9;
-      var val;
-
-      beforeEach(function () {
-        createData(defaultGraphData);
-        val = yAxis.formatAxisLabel(num);
-      });
-
-      it('should return a string with suffix B', function () {
-        expect(val).to.be('1b');
-      });
-    });
-
     describe('getScaleType method', function () {
       var fnNames = ['linear', 'log', 'square root'];
 
@@ -360,5 +351,34 @@ define(function (require) {
         expect(yAxis.tickScale(20)).to.be(0);
       });
     });
+
+    describe('#tickFormat()', function () {
+      var formatter = function () {};
+
+      it('returns a basic number formatter by default', function () {
+        var yAxis = buildYAxis();
+        expect(yAxis.tickFormat()).to.not.be(formatter);
+        expect(yAxis.tickFormat()(1)).to.be('1');
+      });
+
+      it('returns the yAxisFormatter when passed', function () {
+        var yAxis = buildYAxis({
+          yAxisFormatter: formatter
+        });
+        expect(yAxis.tickFormat()).to.be(formatter);
+      });
+
+      it('returns a percentage formatter when the vis is in percentage mode', function () {
+        var yAxis = buildYAxis({
+          yAxisFormatter: formatter,
+          _attr: {
+            mode: 'percentage'
+          }
+        });
+
+        expect(yAxis.tickFormat()).to.not.be(formatter);
+        expect(yAxis.tickFormat()(1)).to.be('100%');
+      });
+    });
   });
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+});