diff --git a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown_spec.jsx b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown_spec.jsx
index cd1c0156c..f89c9ed94 100644
--- a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown_spec.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown_spec.jsx
@@ -71,9 +71,9 @@ describe('HeaderActionsDropdown', () => {
       expect(wrapper.find(MenuItem)).toHaveLength(1);
     });
 
-    it('should render the RefreshIntervalModal', () => {
+    it('should not render the RefreshIntervalModal', () => {
       const wrapper = setup(overrideProps);
-      expect(wrapper.find(RefreshIntervalModal)).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(wrapper.find(RefreshIntervalModal)).toHaveLength(0);
     });
 
     it('should render the URLShortLinkModal', () => {
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ describe('HeaderActionsDropdown', () => {
       expect(wrapper.find(MenuItem)).toHaveLength(2);
     });
 
-    it('should render the RefreshIntervalModal', () => {
+    it('should not render the RefreshIntervalModal', () => {
       const wrapper = setup(overrideProps);
-      expect(wrapper.find(RefreshIntervalModal)).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(wrapper.find(RefreshIntervalModal)).toHaveLength(0);
     });
 
     it('should render the URLShortLinkModal', () => {
diff --git a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/Header.jsx b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/Header.jsx
index 366efbe3d..92d3b1df6 100644
--- a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/Header.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/Header.jsx
@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@ class Header extends React.PureComponent {
       colorScheme,
       filters,
       dashboardInfo,
+      refreshFrequency,
     } = this.props;
 
     const scale = CategoricalColorNamespace.getScale(
@@ -231,6 +232,7 @@ class Header extends React.PureComponent {
       label_colors: labelColors,
       dashboard_title: dashboardTitle,
       default_filters: safeStringify(filters),
+      refresh_frequency: refreshFrequency,
     };
 
     // make sure positions data less than DB storage limitation:
diff --git a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown.jsx b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown.jsx
index 5fc9d0ede..5aa468b74 100644
--- a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/components/HeaderActionsDropdown.jsx
@@ -177,11 +177,13 @@ class HeaderActionsDropdown extends React.PureComponent {
         <MenuItem onClick={forceRefreshAllCharts} disabled={isLoading}>
           {t('Force refresh dashboard')}
         </MenuItem>
-        <RefreshIntervalModal
-          refreshFrequency={refreshFrequency}
-          onChange={this.changeRefreshInterval}
-          triggerNode={<span>{t('Set auto-refresh interval')}</span>}
-        />
+        {editMode && (
+          <RefreshIntervalModal
+            refreshFrequency={refreshFrequency}
+            onChange={this.changeRefreshInterval}
+            triggerNode={<span>{t('Set auto-refresh interval')}</span>}
+          />
+        )}
         {editMode && (
           <MenuItem target="_blank" href={`/dashboard/edit/${dashboardId}`}>
             {t('Edit dashboard metadata')}
diff --git a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/reducers/dashboardState.js b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/reducers/dashboardState.js
index 007f63a28..830e2a751 100644
--- a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/reducers/dashboardState.js
+++ b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/reducers/dashboardState.js
@@ -162,7 +162,11 @@ export default function dashboardStateReducer(state = {}, action) {
       return { ...state, hasUnsavedChanges };
     },
     [SET_REFRESH_FREQUENCY]() {
-      return { ...state, refreshFrequency: action.refreshFrequency };
+      return {
+        ...state,
+        refreshFrequency: action.refreshFrequency,
+        hasUnsavedChanges: true,
+      };
     },
   };