diff --git a/src/axes.jl b/src/axes.jl
index d62667fb..855f8d97 100644
--- a/src/axes.jl
+++ b/src/axes.jl
@@ -234,6 +234,9 @@ function get_ticks(axis::Axis)
     ticks = _transform_ticks(axis[:ticks])
     ticks in (nothing, false) && return nothing
 
+    # treat :native ticks as :auto
+    ticks = ticks == :native ? :auto : ticks
+
     dvals = axis[:discrete_values]
     cv, dv = if !isempty(dvals) && ticks == :auto
         # discrete ticks...
diff --git a/src/backends/gr.jl b/src/backends/gr.jl
index 89c3c355..90e2a5a6 100644
--- a/src/backends/gr.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gr.jl
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ function gr_polaraxes(rmin::Real, rmax::Real, sp::Subplot)
     sinf = sind.(a)
     cosf = cosd.(a)
     rtick_values, rtick_labels = get_ticks(yaxis)
-    if yaxis[:formatter] == :scientific && yaxis[:ticks] == :auto
+    if yaxis[:formatter] == :scientific && yaxis[:ticks] in (:auto, :native)
         rtick_labels = convert_sci_unicode(rtick_labels)
     end
 
@@ -884,7 +884,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                 # use xor ($) to get the right y coords
                 xi, yi = GR.wctondc(cv, sp[:framestyle] == :origin ? 0 : xor(flip, mirror) ? ymax : ymin)
                 # @show cv dv ymin xi yi flip mirror (flip $ mirror)
-                if xaxis[:ticks] == :auto
+                if xaxis[:ticks] in (:auto, :native)
                     # ensure correct dispatch in gr_text for automatic log ticks
                     if xaxis[:scale] in _logScales
                         dv = string(dv, "\\ ")
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                 # use xor ($) to get the right y coords
                 xi, yi = GR.wctondc(sp[:framestyle] == :origin ? 0 : xor(flip, mirror) ? xmax : xmin, cv)
                 # @show cv dv xmin xi yi
-                if yaxis[:ticks] == :auto
+                if yaxis[:ticks] in (:auto, :native)
                     # ensure correct dispatch in gr_text for automatic log ticks
                     if yaxis[:scale] in _logScales
                         dv = string(dv, "\\ ")
diff --git a/src/backends/pgfplots.jl b/src/backends/pgfplots.jl
index 1956f1b3..d22b5b1a 100644
--- a/src/backends/pgfplots.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pgfplots.jl
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ function pgf_axis(sp::Subplot, letter)
         kw[Symbol(letter,:max)] = lims[2]
     end
 
-    if !(axis[:ticks] in (nothing, false, :none)) && framestyle != :none
+    if !(axis[:ticks] in (nothing, false, :none, :native)) && framestyle != :none
         ticks = get_ticks(axis)
         #pgf plot ignores ticks with angle below 90 when xmin = 90 so shift values
         tick_values = ispolar(sp) && letter == :x ? [rad2deg.(ticks[1])[3:end]..., 360, 405] : ticks[1]
diff --git a/src/backends/plotly.jl b/src/backends/plotly.jl
index 0330e149..014d7b21 100644
--- a/src/backends/plotly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/plotly.jl
@@ -273,8 +273,8 @@ function plotly_axis(axis::Axis, sp::Subplot)
         end
 
         # ticks
-        ticks = get_ticks(axis)
-        if ticks != :auto
+        if axis[:ticks] != :native
+            ticks = get_ticks(axis)
             ttype = ticksType(ticks)
             if ttype == :ticks
                 ax[:tickmode] = "array"
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index f3823e0a..4801e38e 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -1069,7 +1069,7 @@ function _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plot{PyPlotBackend})
             if sp[:framestyle] == :origin && length(ticks) > 1
                 ticks[2][ticks[1] .== 0] = ""
             end
-            py_set_ticks(ax, ticks, letter)
+            axis[:ticks] != :native ? py_set_ticks(ax, ticks, letter) : nothing
             pyaxis[:set_tick_params](direction = axis[:tick_direction] == :out ? "out" : "in")
             ax[Symbol("set_", letter, "label")](axis[:guide])
             if get(axis.d, :flip, false)