diff --git a/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJob.java b/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJob.java
index 883a22124e3..225ad4c5cd4 100644
--- a/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJob.java
+++ b/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJob.java
@@ -287,8 +287,14 @@ class DatafeedJob {
     }
 
     private long nextRealtimeTimestamp() {
-        long epochMs = currentTimeSupplier.get() + frequencyMs;
-        return toIntervalStartEpochMs(epochMs) + queryDelayMs + NEXT_TASK_DELAY_MS;
+        // We find the timestamp of the start of the next frequency interval.
+        // The goal is to minimize any lag. To do so,
+        // we offset the time by the query delay modulo frequency.
+        // For example, if frequency is 60s and query delay 90s,
+        // we run 30s past the minute. If frequency is 1s and query delay 10s,
+        // we don't add anything and we'll run every second.
+        long next = currentTimeSupplier.get() + frequencyMs;
+        return toIntervalStartEpochMs(next) + queryDelayMs % frequencyMs + NEXT_TASK_DELAY_MS;
     }
 
     private long toIntervalStartEpochMs(long epochMs) {
diff --git a/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJobTests.java b/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJobTests.java
index 75106b8ee0c..268a351cd24 100644
--- a/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJobTests.java
+++ b/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedJobTests.java
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ public class DatafeedJobTests extends ESTestCase {
         long queryDelayMs = 1000;
         DatafeedJob datafeedJob = createDatafeedJob(frequencyMs, queryDelayMs, 1000, -1);
         long next = datafeedJob.runRealtime();
-        assertEquals(currentTime + frequencyMs + queryDelayMs + 100, next);
+        assertEquals(currentTime + frequencyMs + 100, next);
 
         verify(dataExtractorFactory).newExtractor(1000L + 1L, currentTime - queryDelayMs);
         FlushJobAction.Request flushRequest = new FlushJobAction.Request(jobId);