diff --git a/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/es.js b/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/es.js
index 9802a1abb10d0..e74c3cfde43b4 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/es.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/es.js
@@ -173,7 +173,6 @@ describe(filename, () => {
       };
     });
 
-
     it('sets the index on the request', () => {
       config.index = 'beer';
       const request = fn(config, tlConfig, emptyScriptedFields);
@@ -181,13 +180,6 @@ describe(filename, () => {
       expect(request.index).to.equal('beer');
     });
 
-    it('sets the timeout on the request', () => {
-      config.index = 'beer';
-      const request = fn(config, tlConfig, emptyScriptedFields);
-
-      expect(request.timeout).to.equal('30000ms');
-    });
-
     it('always sets body.size to 0', () => {
       const request = fn(config, tlConfig, emptyScriptedFields);
 
@@ -205,6 +197,34 @@ describe(filename, () => {
       expect(filters.bar.query_string.query).to.eql('bar');
     });
 
+    describe('timeouts', () => {
+
+      let sandbox;
+
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        sandbox = sinon.createSandbox();
+      });
+
+      afterEach(() => {
+        sandbox.restore();
+      });
+
+      it('sets the timeout on the request', () => {
+        config.index = 'beer';
+        const request = fn(config, tlConfig, emptyScriptedFields);
+
+        expect(request.timeout).to.equal('30000ms');
+      });
+
+      it('sets no timeout if elasticsearch.shardTimeout is set to 0', () => {
+        sandbox.stub(tlConfig.server.config(), 'get').withArgs('elasticsearch.shardTimeout').returns(0);
+        config.index = 'beer';
+        const request = fn(config, tlConfig, emptyScriptedFields);
+
+        expect(request).to.not.have.property('timeout');
+      });
+    });
+
     describe('query body', () => {
       beforeEach(() => {
         tlConfig = _.merge(tlConfigFn(), {
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/fixtures/tlConfig.js b/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/fixtures/tlConfig.js
index a33c8845dd58a..0ad145f68ce4f 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/fixtures/tlConfig.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/__tests__/fixtures/tlConfig.js
@@ -24,6 +24,17 @@ import esResponse from './es_response';
 
 export default function () {
 
+  const config = {
+    get(key) {
+      switch (key) {
+        case 'elasticsearch.shardTimeout':
+          return 30000;
+        default:
+          throw new Error(`unexpected config ${key}`);
+      }
+    }
+  };
+
   const functions = require('../../../lib/load_functions')('series_functions');
   const server = {
     plugins: {
@@ -41,18 +52,7 @@ export default function () {
         })
       }
     },
-    config: () => {
-      return {
-        get: (key) => {
-          switch (key) {
-            case 'elasticsearch.shardTimeout':
-              return 30000;
-            default:
-              throw new Error(`unexpected config ${key}`);
-          }
-        }
-      };
-    }
+    config: () => config,
   };
 
   const tlConfig = require('../../../handlers/lib/tl_config.js')({
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/es/lib/build_request.js b/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/es/lib/build_request.js
index a7ff47697d639..24427b1bc27b1 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/es/lib/build_request.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/timelion/server/series_functions/es/lib/build_request.js
@@ -66,9 +66,8 @@ export default function buildRequest(config, tlConfig, scriptedFields) {
 
   _.assign(aggCursor, createDateAgg(config, tlConfig, scriptedFields));
 
-  return {
+  const request = {
     index: config.index,
-    timeout: tlConfig.server.config().get('elasticsearch.shardTimeout') + 'ms',
     body: {
       query: {
         bool: bool
@@ -77,4 +76,11 @@ export default function buildRequest(config, tlConfig, scriptedFields) {
       size: 0
     }
   };
+
+  const timeout = tlConfig.server.config().get('elasticsearch.shardTimeout');
+  if (timeout) {
+    request.timeout = `${timeout}ms`;
+  }
+
+  return request;
 }