diff --git a/NEWS.txt b/NEWS.txt
index 343af64..e63b1d9 100644
--- a/NEWS.txt
+++ b/NEWS.txt
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ Bug fixes:
 - Fix for uneven axis margins (report and patch by Paul Kienzle) and
   snapping to ticks (concurrent report and patch by lifthrasiir).
 - Fixed bug with slicing in findNearbyItems (patch by zollman).
+- Make heuristic for x axis label widths more dynamic (patch by
+  rickinhethuis).
 
 Flot 0.5
 --------
diff --git a/jquery.flot.js b/jquery.flot.js
index 0c716b2..9c47362 100644
--- a/jquery.flot.js
+++ b/jquery.flot.js
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@
                     // them, we don't need the exact figures and the
                     // fixed-size box content is easy to center
                     if (axis.labelWidth == null)
-                        axis.labelWidth = canvasWidth / 6;
+                        axis.labelWidth = canvasWidth / (axis.ticks.length > 0 ? axis.ticks.length : 1);
 
                     // measure x label heights
                     if (axis.labelHeight == null) {