diff --git a/explorer/GrapherGrammar.ts b/explorer/GrapherGrammar.ts
index ecc953d3779..1397ee4c328 100644
--- a/explorer/GrapherGrammar.ts
+++ b/explorer/GrapherGrammar.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import {
     EnumCellDef,
     Grammar,
     IntegerCellDef,
-    NumericCellDef,
     SlugDeclarationCellDef,
     SlugsDeclarationCellDef,
     StringCellDef,
@@ -23,6 +22,7 @@ import {
     IndicatorIdsOrEtlPathsCellDef,
     IndicatorIdOrEtlPathCellDef,
     GrapherCellDef,
+    NumericOrAutoCellDef,
 } from "../gridLang/GridLangConstants.js"
 
 const toTerminalOptions = (keywords: string[]): CellDef[] => {
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ export const GrapherGrammar: Grammar<GrapherCellDef> = {
         toGrapherObject: (value) => ({ yAxis: { canChangeScaleType: value } }),
     },
     yAxisMin: {
-        ...NumericCellDef,
+        ...NumericOrAutoCellDef,
         keyword: "yAxisMin",
         description: "Set the minimum value for the yAxis",
         toGrapherObject: (value) => ({ yAxis: { min: value } }),
diff --git a/gridLang/GridLangConstants.ts b/gridLang/GridLangConstants.ts
index 9259535b7cc..75ba1e15a2e 100644
--- a/gridLang/GridLangConstants.ts
+++ b/gridLang/GridLangConstants.ts
@@ -102,6 +102,19 @@ export const NumericCellDef: CellDef = {
     parse: (value: any) => parseFloat(value),
 }
 
+export const NumericOrAutoCellDef: CellDef = {
+    keyword: "",
+    cssClass: "NumericCellDef",
+    description: "",
+    regex: /^(-?\d+\.?\d*|auto)$/,
+    requirementsDescription: `Must be a number or "auto"`,
+    valuePlaceholder: "98.6",
+    parse: (value: any) => {
+        if (value === "auto") return "auto"
+        return parseFloat(value)
+    },
+}
+
 export const IntegerCellDef: CellDef = {
     keyword: "",
     cssClass: "IntegerCellDef",