diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.test.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.test.tsx
index 3471c82a43fa4..6ba5ed0056c38 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.test.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.test.tsx
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import { createMockedIndexPattern } from '../../mocks';
 import { LastValueIndexPatternColumn } from './last_value';
 import { lastValueOperation } from '.';
 import type { FormBasedLayer } from '../../types';
-import type { IndexPattern } from '../../../../types';
 import { TermsIndexPatternColumn } from './terms';
 import { EuiSwitch, EuiSwitchEvent } from '@elastic/eui';
 import { buildExpression, parseExpression } from '@kbn/expressions-plugin/common';
@@ -35,10 +34,9 @@ const defaultProps = {
   dataViews: dataViewPluginMocks.createStartContract(),
   data: dataPluginMock.createStartContract(),
   http: {} as HttpSetup,
-  indexPattern: {
-    ...createMockedIndexPattern(),
+  indexPattern: createMockedIndexPattern({
     hasRestrictions: false,
-  } as IndexPattern,
+  }),
   operationDefinitionMap: {},
   isFullscreen: false,
   toggleFullscreen: jest.fn(),
@@ -87,7 +85,7 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
       const esAggsFn = lastValueOperation.toEsAggsFn(
         { ...lastValueColumn, params: { ...lastValueColumn.params } },
         'col1',
-        {} as IndexPattern,
+        createMockedIndexPattern(),
         layer,
         uiSettingsMock,
         []
@@ -110,7 +108,7 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
       const esAggsFn = lastValueOperation.toEsAggsFn(
         { ...lastValueColumn, params: { ...lastValueColumn.params, showArrayValues: true } },
         'col1',
-        {} as IndexPattern,
+        createMockedIndexPattern(),
         layer,
         uiSettingsMock,
         []
@@ -398,6 +396,23 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
         })
       ).toEqual({ dataType: 'string', isBucketed: false, scale: 'ordinal' });
     });
+
+    it('should return operation with the right type also for tsdb counter types', () => {
+      expect(
+        lastValueOperation.getPossibleOperationForField({
+          aggregatable: true,
+          searchable: true,
+          name: 'test',
+          displayName: 'test',
+          type: 'number',
+          timeSeriesMetric: 'counter',
+        })
+      ).toEqual({
+        dataType: 'number',
+        isBucketed: false,
+        scale: 'ratio',
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   describe('buildColumn', () => {
@@ -882,10 +897,8 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
   });
 
   describe('getErrorMessage', () => {
-    let indexPattern: IndexPattern;
     let errorLayer: FormBasedLayer;
     beforeEach(() => {
-      indexPattern = createMockedIndexPattern();
       errorLayer = {
         columns: {
           col1: {
@@ -903,9 +916,9 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
       };
     });
     it('returns undefined if sourceField exists and sortField is of type date ', () => {
-      expect(lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', indexPattern)).toEqual(
-        undefined
-      );
+      expect(
+        lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', createMockedIndexPattern())
+      ).toEqual(undefined);
     });
     it('shows error message if the sourceField does not exist in index pattern', () => {
       errorLayer = {
@@ -917,7 +930,7 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
           } as LastValueIndexPatternColumn,
         },
       };
-      expect(lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', indexPattern))
+      expect(lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', createMockedIndexPattern()))
         .toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
         Array [
           Object {
@@ -968,7 +981,7 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
           } as LastValueIndexPatternColumn,
         },
       };
-      expect(lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', indexPattern))
+      expect(lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', createMockedIndexPattern()))
         .toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
         Array [
           Object {
@@ -1014,10 +1027,13 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
           } as LastValueIndexPatternColumn,
         },
       };
-      expect(lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', indexPattern)).toHaveLength(2);
+      expect(
+        lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', createMockedIndexPattern())
+      ).toHaveLength(2);
     });
 
     it('shows error message if the sourceField is of unsupported type', () => {
+      const indexPattern = createMockedIndexPattern();
       indexPattern.getFieldByName('start_date')!.type = 'unsupported_type';
       errorLayer = {
         ...errorLayer,
@@ -1045,9 +1061,9 @@ describe('last_value', () => {
           } as LastValueIndexPatternColumn,
         },
       };
-      expect(lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', indexPattern)).toEqual([
-        'Field bytes is not a date field and cannot be used for sorting',
-      ]);
+      expect(
+        lastValueOperation.getErrorMessage!(errorLayer, 'col1', createMockedIndexPattern())
+      ).toEqual(['Field bytes is not a date field and cannot be used for sorting']);
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.tsx
index f5abbc74683c6..b452d5f90b761 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/datasources/form_based/operations/definitions/last_value.tsx
@@ -199,8 +199,8 @@ export const lastValueOperation: OperationDefinition<
           : oldColumn.filter,
     };
   },
-  getPossibleOperationForField: ({ aggregationRestrictions, type, timeSeriesMetric }) => {
-    if (supportedTypes.has(type) && !aggregationRestrictions && timeSeriesMetric !== 'counter') {
+  getPossibleOperationForField: ({ aggregationRestrictions, type }) => {
+    if (supportedTypes.has(type) && !aggregationRestrictions) {
       return {
         dataType: type as DataType,
         isBucketed: false,
@@ -285,9 +285,12 @@ export const lastValueOperation: OperationDefinition<
       // time shift is added to wrapping aggFilteredMetric if filter is set
       timeShift: column.filter ? undefined : column.timeShift,
     } as const;
+    // do not use unsupported top hits when using a counter field type
+    const isCounterMetricFieldUsed =
+      indexPattern.getFieldByName(column.sourceField)?.timeSeriesMetric === 'counter';
 
     return (
-      column.params.showArrayValues
+      column.params.showArrayValues && !isCounterMetricFieldUsed
         ? buildExpressionFunction<AggFunctionsMapping['aggTopHit']>('aggTopHit', {
             ...initialArgs,
             aggregate: 'concat',
diff --git a/x-pack/test/functional/apps/lens/group4/tsdb.ts b/x-pack/test/functional/apps/lens/group4/tsdb.ts
index 3828ef875d3af..dd747600a21ef 100644
--- a/x-pack/test/functional/apps/lens/group4/tsdb.ts
+++ b/x-pack/test/functional/apps/lens/group4/tsdb.ts
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }: FtrProviderContext) {
 
       // skip count for now as it's a special function and will
       // change automatically the unsupported field to Records when detected
-      const operationsByFieldSupport = [
+      const allOperations = [
         'average',
         'max',
         'last_value',
@@ -181,11 +181,16 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }: FtrProviderContext) {
         'standard_deviation',
         'sum',
         'unique_count',
-      ].map((name) => ({
+      ];
+      const counterFieldsSupportedOps = ['min', 'max', 'counter_rate', 'last_value'];
+      const gaugeFieldsSupportedOps = allOperations;
+
+      const operationsByFieldSupport = allOperations.map((name) => ({
         name,
+        // Quick way to make it match the UI name
         label: `${name[0].toUpperCase()}${name.slice(1).replace('_', ' ')}`,
-        counter: ['max', 'counter_rate'].includes(name),
-        gauge: true,
+        counter: counterFieldsSupportedOps.includes(name),
+        gauge: gaugeFieldsSupportedOps.includes(name),
       }));
 
       for (const fieldType of ['counter', 'gauge'] as const) {