diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js b/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
index 38a8a7a8909..3307f7358e7 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
@@ -2210,9 +2210,7 @@ function numFormat(v, ax, fmtoverride, hover) {
             v = v.slice(0, Math.max(0, v.length + tickRound));
             for(var i = tickRound; i < 0; i++) v += '0';
         } else {
-            v = String(v);
-            var dp = v.indexOf('.') + 1;
-            if(dp) v = v.slice(0, dp + tickRound).replace(/\.?0+$/, '');
+            v = v.toFixed(Math.max(0, Math.min(20, tickRound))).replace(/\.?0+$/, '');
         }
         // insert appropriate decimal point and thousands separator
         v = Lib.numSeparate(v, ax._separators, separatethousands);