diff --git a/ui/src/dashboards/components/AxesOptions.js b/ui/src/dashboards/components/AxesOptions.js
index 8cd5849e79..072f6d0b56 100644
--- a/ui/src/dashboards/components/AxesOptions.js
+++ b/ui/src/dashboards/components/AxesOptions.js
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ const AxesOptions = ({
           <div className="form-group col-sm-12">
             <label htmlFor="prefix">Title</label>
             <OptIn
-              customPlaceholder={defaultYLabel}
+              customPlaceholder={defaultYLabel || 'y-axis title'}
               customValue={label}
               onSetValue={onSetLabel}
               type="text"