diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/transform/qa/single-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/integration/TransformPivotRestIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/transform/qa/single-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/integration/TransformPivotRestIT.java
index 13b56259ce51f..c8982620d62ee 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/transform/qa/single-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/integration/TransformPivotRestIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/transform/qa/single-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/integration/TransformPivotRestIT.java
@@ -500,6 +500,115 @@ public void testHistogramPivot() throws Exception {
         assertOnePivotValue(transformIndex + "/_search?q=every_2:0.0", 1.0);
     }
 
+    public void testContinuousPivotHistogram() throws Exception {
+        String indexName = "continuous_reviews_histogram";
+        createReviewsIndex(indexName);
+        String transformId = "simple_continuous_pivot";
+        String transformIndex = "pivot_reviews_continuous_histogram";
+        setupDataAccessRole(DATA_ACCESS_ROLE, indexName, transformIndex);
+        final Request createTransformRequest = createRequestWithAuth(
+            "PUT",
+            getTransformEndpoint() + transformId,
+            BASIC_AUTH_VALUE_TRANSFORM_ADMIN_WITH_SOME_DATA_ACCESS
+        );
+        String config = "{"
+            + " \"source\": {\"index\":\""
+            + indexName
+            + "\"},"
+            + " \"dest\": {\"index\":\""
+            + transformIndex
+            + "\"},"
+            + " \"frequency\": \"1s\","
+            + " \"sync\": {\"time\": {\"field\": \"timestamp\", \"delay\": \"1s\"}},"
+            + " \"pivot\": {"
+            + "   \"group_by\": {"
+            + "     \"every_2\": {"
+            + "       \"histogram\": {"
+            + "         \"interval\": 2,\"field\":\"stars\""
+            + " } } },"
+            + "   \"aggregations\": {"
+            + "     \"user_dc\": {"
+            + "       \"cardinality\": {"
+            + "         \"field\": \"user_id\""
+            + " } } } }"
+            + "}";
+        createTransformRequest.setJsonEntity(config);
+        Map<String, Object> createTransformResponse = entityAsMap(client().performRequest(createTransformRequest));
+        assertThat(createTransformResponse.get("acknowledged"), equalTo(Boolean.TRUE));
+
+        startAndWaitForContinuousTransform(transformId, transformIndex, null);
+        assertTrue(indexExists(transformIndex));
+
+        // we expect 3 documents as there shall be 5 unique star values and we are bucketing every 2 starting at 0
+        Map<String, Object> indexStats = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_stats");
+        assertEquals(3, XContentMapValues.extractValue("_all.total.docs.count", indexStats));
+
+        Map<String, Object> searchResult = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_search?q=every_2:0.0");
+        assertEquals(1, XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.total.value", searchResult));
+        assertThat(((List<?>) XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.hits._source.user_dc", searchResult)).get(0), equalTo(19.0));
+
+        searchResult = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_search?q=every_2:2.0");
+        assertEquals(1, XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.total.value", searchResult));
+        assertThat(((List<?>) XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.hits._source.user_dc", searchResult)).get(0), equalTo(27.0));
+
+        searchResult = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_search?q=every_2:4.0");
+        assertEquals(1, XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.total.value", searchResult));
+        assertThat(((List<?>) XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.hits._source.user_dc", searchResult)).get(0), equalTo(27.0));
+
+        final StringBuilder bulk = new StringBuilder();
+
+        long dateStamp = Instant.now().toEpochMilli() - 1_000;
+
+        // add 5 data points with 3 new users: 27, 28, 29
+        for (int i = 25; i < 30; i++) {
+            bulk.append("{\"index\":{\"_index\":\"" + indexName + "\"}}\n");
+            String location = (i + 10) + "," + (i + 15);
+
+            bulk.append("{\"user_id\":\"")
+                .append("user_")
+                .append(i)
+                .append("\",\"business_id\":\"")
+                .append("business_")
+                .append(i)
+                .append("\",\"stars\":")
+                .append(3)
+                .append(",\"location\":\"")
+                .append(location)
+                .append("\",\"timestamp\":")
+                .append(dateStamp)
+                .append("}\n");
+        }
+        bulk.append("\r\n");
+
+        final Request bulkRequest = new Request("POST", "/_bulk");
+        bulkRequest.addParameter("refresh", "true");
+        bulkRequest.setJsonEntity(bulk.toString());
+        client().performRequest(bulkRequest);
+
+        waitForTransformCheckpoint(transformId, 2);
+
+        stopTransform(transformId, false);
+        refreshIndex(transformIndex);
+
+        // assert after changes
+        // still 3 documents
+        indexStats = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_stats");
+        assertEquals(3, XContentMapValues.extractValue("_all.total.docs.count", indexStats));
+
+        searchResult = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_search?q=every_2:0.0");
+        assertEquals(1, XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.total.value", searchResult));
+        assertThat(((List<?>) XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.hits._source.user_dc", searchResult)).get(0), equalTo(19.0));
+
+        searchResult = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_search?q=every_2:2.0");
+        assertEquals(1, XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.total.value", searchResult));
+        assertThat(((List<?>) XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.hits._source.user_dc", searchResult)).get(0), equalTo(30.0));
+
+        searchResult = getAsMap(transformIndex + "/_search?q=every_2:4.0");
+        assertEquals(1, XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.total.value", searchResult));
+        assertThat(((List<?>) XContentMapValues.extractValue("hits.hits._source.user_dc", searchResult)).get(0), equalTo(27.0));
+
+    }
+
     public void testBiggerPivot() throws Exception {
         String transformId = "bigger_pivot";
         String transformIndex = "bigger_pivot_reviews";
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java
index 645581cad45ca..6456564a8e152 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ protected void initializeFunction() {
         // create the function
         function = FunctionFactory.create(getConfig());
 
-        if (isContinuous()) {
+        if (isContinuous() && function.supportsIncrementalBucketUpdate()) {
             changeCollector = function.buildChangeCollector(getConfig().getSyncConfig().getField());
         }
     }
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ protected void onFinish(ActionListener<Void> listener) {
             // reset the page size, so we do not memorize a low page size forever
             pageSize = function.getInitialPageSize();
             // reset the changed bucket to free memory
-            if (isContinuous()) {
+            if (changeCollector != null) {
                 changeCollector.clear();
             }
 
@@ -749,7 +749,9 @@ private SearchSourceBuilder buildUpdateQuery(SearchSourceBuilder sourceBuilder)
         BoolQueryBuilder filteredQuery = new BoolQueryBuilder().filter(queryBuilder)
             .filter(config.getSyncConfig().getRangeQuery(nextCheckpoint));
 
-        QueryBuilder filter = changeCollector.buildFilterQuery(lastCheckpoint.getTimeUpperBound(), nextCheckpoint.getTimeUpperBound());
+        QueryBuilder filter = changeCollector != null
+            ? changeCollector.buildFilterQuery(lastCheckpoint.getTimeUpperBound(), nextCheckpoint.getTimeUpperBound())
+            : null;
 
         if (filter != null) {
             filteredQuery.filter(filter);