diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/query_builder.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/query_builder.ts
index 3dd0f15156be..fb5d48101ef5 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/query_builder.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/query_builder.ts
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ export class ElasticQueryBuilder {
       esAgg.offset = settings.offset;
     }
 
-    const interval = settings.interval === 'auto' ? '$__interval' : settings.interval;
+    const interval = settings.interval === 'auto' ? '${__interval_ms}ms' : settings.interval;
 
     esAgg.fixed_interval = interval;
 
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/specs/query_builder.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/specs/query_builder.test.ts
index e38b3c5fef6e..f84a758a2f51 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/specs/query_builder.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/elasticsearch/specs/query_builder.test.ts
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ describe('ElasticQueryBuilder', () => {
             extended_bounds: { max: '$timeTo', min: '$timeFrom' },
             field: '@timestamp',
             format: 'epoch_millis',
-            fixed_interval: '$__interval',
+            fixed_interval: '${__interval_ms}ms',
             min_doc_count: 0,
           },
         },