diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/Settings.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/Settings.java
index e8ba6d383d55e..ac43a1800b40f 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/Settings.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/Settings.java
@@ -1019,8 +1019,8 @@ public Builder put(String setting, double value) {
          * @param value   The time value
          * @return The builder
          */
-        public Builder put(String setting, long value, TimeUnit timeUnit) {
-            put(setting, timeUnit.toMillis(value) + "ms");
+        public Builder put(final String setting, final long value, final TimeUnit timeUnit) {
+            put(setting, new TimeValue(value, timeUnit));
             return this;
         }
 
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingsTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingsTests.java
index 27a9b00204203..802bceaa90812 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingsTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/SettingsTests.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.contains;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsInAnyOrder;
@@ -744,4 +745,18 @@ public void testFractionalByteSizeValue() {
         assertThat(actual, equalTo(expected));
     }
 
+    public void testSetByTimeUnit() {
+        final Setting<TimeValue> setting =
+                Setting.timeSetting("key", TimeValue.parseTimeValue(randomTimeValue(0, 24, "h"), "key"), TimeValue.ZERO);
+        final TimeValue expected = new TimeValue(1500, TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS);
+        final Settings settings = Settings.builder().put("key", expected.getMicros(), TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS).build();
+        /*
+         * Previously we would internally convert the duration to a string by converting to milliseconds which could lose precision  (e.g.,
+         * 1500 microseconds would be converted to 1ms). Effectively this test is then asserting that we no longer make this mistake when
+         * doing the internal string conversion. Instead, we convert to a duration using a method that does not lose the original unit.
+         */
+        final TimeValue actual = setting.get(settings);
+        assertThat(actual, equalTo(expected));
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SharedClusterSnapshotRestoreIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SharedClusterSnapshotRestoreIT.java
index d7ca90a90a3d9..c90d9319df30b 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SharedClusterSnapshotRestoreIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/SharedClusterSnapshotRestoreIT.java
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ public void testRestoreWithDifferentMappingsAndSettings() throws Exception {
 
         logger.info("--> assert that old settings are restored");
         GetSettingsResponse getSettingsResponse = client.admin().indices().prepareGetSettings("test-idx").execute().actionGet();
-        assertThat(getSettingsResponse.getSetting("test-idx", "index.refresh_interval"), equalTo("10000ms"));
+        assertThat(getSettingsResponse.getSetting("test-idx", "index.refresh_interval"), equalTo("10s"));
     }
 
     public void testEmptySnapshot() throws Exception {