diff --git a/src/fish_tests.cpp b/src/fish_tests.cpp
index 73ce0616b..581195ff9 100644
--- a/src/fish_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/fish_tests.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <array>
 #include <atomic>
+#include <chrono>
 #include <cmath>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <cwchar>
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@
 #include "redirection.h"
 #include "screen.h"
 #include "signal.h"
+#include "timer.h"
 #include "tnode.h"
 #include "tokenizer.h"
 #include "topic_monitor.h"
@@ -5641,6 +5643,36 @@ static void test_topic_monitor_torture() {
     for (auto &t : threads) t.join();
 }
 
+static void test_timer_format() {
+    say(L"Testing timer format");
+    auto t1 = timer_snapshot_t::take();
+    t1.cpu_fish.ru_utime.tv_usec = 0;
+    t1.cpu_fish.ru_stime.tv_usec = 0;
+    t1.cpu_children.ru_utime.tv_usec = 0;
+    t1.cpu_children.ru_stime.tv_usec = 0;
+    auto t2 = t1;
+    t2.cpu_fish.ru_utime.tv_usec = 999995;
+    t2.cpu_fish.ru_stime.tv_usec = 999994;
+    t2.cpu_children.ru_utime.tv_usec = 1000;
+    t2.cpu_children.ru_stime.tv_usec = 500;
+    t2.wall += std::chrono::microseconds(500);
+    auto expected =
+        LR"(
+________________________________________________________
+Executed in  500.00 micros    fish         external
+   usr time    1.00 secs      1.00 secs    1.00 millis
+   sys time    1.00 secs      1.00 secs    0.50 millis
+)"; //         (a)            (b)            (c)
+    // (a) remaining columns should align even if there are different units
+    // (b) carry to the next unit when it would overflow %6.2F
+    // (c) carry to the next unit when the larger one exceeds 1000
+    std::wstring actual = timer_snapshot_t::print_delta(t1, t2, true);
+    if (actual != expected) {
+        err(L"Failed to format timer snapshot\n\Expected: %ls\nActual:%ls\n", expected,
+            actual.c_str());
+    }
+}
+
 /// Main test.
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     UNUSED(argc);
@@ -5770,6 +5802,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     if (should_test_function("normalize")) test_normalize_path();
     if (should_test_function("topics")) test_topic_monitor();
     if (should_test_function("topics")) test_topic_monitor_torture();
+    if (should_test_function("timer_format")) test_timer_format();
     // history_tests_t::test_history_speed();
 
     say(L"Encountered %d errors in low-level tests", err_count);
diff --git a/src/timer.cpp b/src/timer.cpp
index 53e0d996a..250bf79e3 100644
--- a/src/timer.cpp
+++ b/src/timer.cpp
@@ -101,9 +101,9 @@ wcstring timer_snapshot_t::print_delta(timer_snapshot_t t1, timer_snapshot_t t2,
     auto get_unit = [](int64_t micros) {
         if (micros > 900 * 1E6) {
             return tunit::minutes;
-        } else if (micros > 1 * 1E6) {
+        } else if (micros >= 999995) {
             return tunit::seconds;
-        } else if (micros > 1E3) {
+        } else if (micros >= 1000) {
             return tunit::milliseconds;
         } else {
             return tunit::microseconds;
@@ -179,18 +179,20 @@ wcstring timer_snapshot_t::print_delta(timer_snapshot_t t1, timer_snapshot_t t2,
         auto child_usr_time = convert(child_usr_micros, child_unit);
         auto child_sys_time = convert(child_sys_micros, child_unit);
 
+        auto column2_unit_len =
+            std::max(strlen(unit_short_name(wall_unit)), strlen(unit_short_name(cpu_unit)));
         append_format(output,
                       L"\n________________________________________________________"
-                      L"\nExecuted in  %6.2F %s   %*s           %*s "
-                      L"\n   usr time  %6.2F %s  %6.2F %s  %6.2F %s "
-                      L"\n   sys time  %6.2F %s  %6.2F %s  %6.2F %s "
+                      L"\nExecuted in  %6.2F %-*s    %-*s  %s"
+                      L"\n   usr time  %6.2F %-*s  %6.2F %s  %6.2F %s"
+                      L"\n   sys time  %6.2F %-*s  %6.2F %s  %6.2F %s"
                       L"\n",
-                      wall_time, unit_short_name(wall_unit), strlen(unit_short_name(wall_unit)) - 1,
-                      "fish", strlen(unit_short_name(fish_unit)) - 1, "external", usr_time,
-                      unit_short_name(cpu_unit), fish_usr_time, unit_short_name(fish_unit),
-                      child_usr_time, unit_short_name(child_unit), sys_time,
-                      unit_short_name(cpu_unit), fish_sys_time, unit_short_name(fish_unit),
-                      child_sys_time, unit_short_name(child_unit));
+                      wall_time, column2_unit_len, unit_short_name(wall_unit),
+                      strlen(unit_short_name(fish_unit)) + 7, "fish", "external",            //
+                      usr_time, column2_unit_len, unit_short_name(cpu_unit), fish_usr_time,  //
+                      unit_short_name(fish_unit), child_usr_time, unit_short_name(child_unit),
+                      sys_time, column2_unit_len, unit_short_name(cpu_unit), fish_sys_time,
+                      unit_short_name(fish_unit), child_sys_time, unit_short_name(child_unit));
     }
 
     return output;