diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 48e1e3459f2fa..c48f499d589a5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@
     "@kbn/test-subj-selector": "link:packages/kbn-test-subj-selector",
     "@kbn/ui-framework": "link:packages/kbn-ui-framework",
     "JSONStream": "1.1.1",
+    "abortcontroller-polyfill": "^1.1.9",
     "angular": "1.6.9",
     "angular-aria": "1.6.6",
     "angular-elastic": "2.5.0",
diff --git a/src/ui/public/chrome/chrome.js b/src/ui/public/chrome/chrome.js
index 2042c0070eceb..54bf84fe126db 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/chrome/chrome.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/chrome/chrome.js
@@ -21,9 +21,13 @@ import _ from 'lodash';
 import angular from 'angular';
 
 import { metadata } from '../metadata';
+
+// Polyfills
 import 'babel-polyfill';
 import 'whatwg-fetch';
 import 'custom-event-polyfill';
+import 'abortcontroller-polyfill';
+
 import '../state_management/global_state';
 import '../config';
 import '../notify';
diff --git a/src/ui/public/kfetch/index.js b/src/ui/public/kfetch/index.js
index 173c15dcfddf2..ab1cadf0c2371 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/kfetch/index.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/kfetch/index.js
@@ -17,57 +17,5 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
-import 'isomorphic-fetch';
-import url from 'url';
-import chrome from '../chrome';
-import { metadata } from '../metadata';
-import { merge } from 'lodash';
-
-class FetchError extends Error {
-  constructor(res, body) {
-    super(res.statusText);
-    this.res = res;
-    this.body = body;
-    Error.captureStackTrace(this, FetchError);
-  }
-}
-
-export async function kfetch(fetchOptions, kibanaOptions) {
-  // fetch specific options with defaults
-  const { pathname, query, ...combinedFetchOptions } = merge(
-    {
-      method: 'GET',
-      credentials: 'same-origin',
-      headers: {
-        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-        'kbn-version': metadata.version,
-      },
-    },
-    fetchOptions
-  );
-
-  // kibana specific options with defaults
-  const combinedKibanaOptions = {
-    prependBasePath: true,
-    ...kibanaOptions,
-  };
-
-  const fullUrl = url.format({
-    pathname: combinedKibanaOptions.prependBasePath ? chrome.addBasePath(pathname) : pathname,
-    query,
-  });
-
-  const res = await fetch(fullUrl, combinedFetchOptions);
-
-  if (!res.ok) {
-    let body;
-    try {
-      body = await res.json();
-    } catch (err) {
-      // ignore error, may not be able to get body for response that is not ok
-    }
-    throw new FetchError(res, body);
-  }
-
-  return res.json();
-}
+export { kfetch } from './kfetch';
+export { kfetchAbortable } from './kfetch_abortable';
diff --git a/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch.js b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..af9c849f88c62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch.js
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+import 'isomorphic-fetch';
+import url from 'url';
+import chrome from '../chrome';
+import { metadata } from '../metadata';
+import { merge } from 'lodash';
+
+class FetchError extends Error {
+  constructor(res, body) {
+    super(res.statusText);
+    this.res = res;
+    this.body = body;
+    Error.captureStackTrace(this, FetchError);
+  }
+}
+
+export function kfetch(fetchOptions, kibanaOptions) {
+  // fetch specific options with defaults
+  const { pathname, query, ...combinedFetchOptions } = merge(
+    {
+      method: 'GET',
+      credentials: 'same-origin',
+      headers: {
+        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+        'kbn-version': metadata.version,
+      },
+    },
+    fetchOptions,
+  );
+
+  // kibana specific options with defaults
+  const combinedKibanaOptions = {
+    prependBasePath: true,
+    ...kibanaOptions,
+  };
+
+  const fullUrl = url.format({
+    pathname: combinedKibanaOptions.prependBasePath ? chrome.addBasePath(pathname) : pathname,
+    query,
+  });
+
+  const fetching = new Promise(async (resolve, reject) => {
+    const res = await fetch(fullUrl, combinedFetchOptions);
+
+    if (!res.ok) {
+      let body;
+      try {
+        body = await res.json();
+      } catch (err) {
+        // ignore error, may not be able to get body for response that is not ok
+      }
+      return reject(new FetchError(res, body));
+    }
+
+    resolve(res.json());
+  });
+
+  return fetching;
+}
diff --git a/src/ui/public/kfetch/index.test.js b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch.test.js
similarity index 98%
rename from src/ui/public/kfetch/index.test.js
rename to src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch.test.js
index 9b0ffae7c6ab6..0bd9f28e8bcd6 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/kfetch/index.test.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch.test.js
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@
  */
 
 import fetchMock from 'fetch-mock';
-import { kfetch } from './index';
+import { kfetch } from './kfetch';
 
 jest.mock('../chrome', () => ({
   addBasePath: path => `myBase/${path}`,
 }));
+
 jest.mock('../metadata', () => ({
   metadata: {
     version: 'my-version',
diff --git a/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch_abortable.js b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch_abortable.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8bd732d2ab5f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch_abortable.js
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+import { kfetch } from './kfetch';
+
+function createAbortable() {
+  const abortController = new AbortController();
+  const { signal, abort } = abortController;
+
+  return {
+    signal,
+    abort: abort.bind(abortController),
+  };
+}
+
+export function kfetchAbortable(fetchOptions, kibanaOptions) {
+  const { signal, abort } = createAbortable();
+  const fetching = kfetch({ ...fetchOptions, signal }, kibanaOptions);
+
+  return {
+    fetching,
+    abort,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch_abortable.test.js b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch_abortable.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..053f231b0f965
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/public/kfetch/kfetch_abortable.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+import { kfetchAbortable } from './kfetch_abortable';
+
+jest.mock('../chrome', () => ({
+  addBasePath: path => `myBase/${path}`,
+}));
+
+jest.mock('../metadata', () => ({
+  metadata: {
+    version: 'my-version',
+  },
+}));
+
+describe('kfetchAbortable', () => {
+  it('should return an object with a fetching promise and an abort callback', () => {
+    const { fetching, abort } = kfetchAbortable({ pathname: 'my/path' });
+    expect(typeof fetching.then).toBe('function');
+    expect(typeof fetching.catch).toBe('function');
+    expect(typeof abort).toBe('function');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 348d0dafe3790..36ed0c2ab6f61 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -549,6 +549,10 @@ abbrev@1.0.x:
   version "1.0.9"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/abbrev/-/abbrev-1.0.9.tgz#91b4792588a7738c25f35dd6f63752a2f8776135"
 
+abortcontroller-polyfill@^1.1.9:
+  version "1.1.9"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/abortcontroller-polyfill/-/abortcontroller-polyfill-1.1.9.tgz#9fefe359fda2e9e0932dc85e6106453ac393b2da"
+
 accept-language-parser@^1.5.0:
   version "1.5.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/accept-language-parser/-/accept-language-parser-1.5.0.tgz#8877c54040a8dcb59e0a07d9c1fde42298334791"