diff --git a/src/axes.jl b/src/axes.jl
index dd36f824..d3893330 100644
--- a/src/axes.jl
+++ b/src/axes.jl
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ function optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis::Axis, ticks = nothing)
     # If the axis input was a Date or DateTime use a special logic to find
     # "round" Date(Time)s as ticks
     # TODO: maybe: non-trivial scale (:ln, :log2, :log10) for date/datetime
-    if axis[:formatter] in (dateformatter, datetimeformatter) && scale == :identity
+    if axis[:formatter] in (dateformatter, datetimeformatter) && ticks == nothing && scale == :identity
         return optimize_datetime_ticks(amin, amax; k_min = 2, k_max = 4)
     end