diff --git a/src/axes.jl b/src/axes.jl
index 855f8d97..1cecd211 100644
--- a/src/axes.jl
+++ b/src/axes.jl
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ function optimal_ticks_and_labels(axis::Axis, ticks = nothing)
         formatter = axis[:formatter]
         if formatter == :auto
             # the default behavior is to make strings of the scaled values and then apply the labelfunc
-            map(labelfunc(scale, backend()), Showoff.showoff(scaled_ticks, :plain))
+            map(labelfunc(scale, backend()), Showoff.showoff(scaled_ticks, :auto))
         elseif formatter == :scientific
             Showoff.showoff(unscaled_ticks, :scientific)
         else
diff --git a/src/backends/gr.jl b/src/backends/gr.jl
index 7ff6f606..f259f143 100644
--- a/src/backends/gr.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gr.jl
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ 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] in (:auto, :native)
+    if (yaxis[:formatter] == :scientific || contains(rtick_labels,"×10") )&& yaxis[:ticks] in (:auto, :native)
         rtick_labels = convert_sci_unicode(rtick_labels)
     end
 
@@ -889,7 +889,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                     # ensure correct dispatch in gr_text for automatic log ticks
                     if xaxis[:scale] in _logScales
                         dv = string(dv, "\\ ")
-                    elseif xaxis[:formatter] == :scientific
+                    elseif xaxis[:formatter] == :scientific || contains(dv,"×10")
                         dv = convert_sci_unicode(dv)
                     end
                 end
@@ -908,7 +908,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                     # ensure correct dispatch in gr_text for automatic log ticks
                     if yaxis[:scale] in _logScales
                         dv = string(dv, "\\ ")
-                    elseif yaxis[:formatter] == :scientific
+                    elseif yaxis[:formatter] == :scientific || contains(dv,"×10")
                         dv = convert_sci_unicode(dv)
                     end
                 end