diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js
index 522b6b70870257..984706556800d6 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ import 'ui/agg_types';
 import 'ui/timepicker';
 import { showAppRedirectNotification } from 'ui/notify';
 import 'leaflet';
-import { KibanaRootController } from './kibana_root_controller';
 
 routes.enable();
 
@@ -68,6 +67,4 @@ routes
     redirectTo: `/${chrome.getInjected('kbnDefaultAppId', 'discover')}`
   });
 
-chrome.setRootController('kibana', KibanaRootController);
-
 uiModules.get('kibana').run(showAppRedirectNotification);
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/kibana_root_controller.js b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/kibana_root_controller.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 830cd0bd16c7b9..00000000000000
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/kibana_root_controller.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * 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 moment from 'moment-timezone';
-
-export function KibanaRootController($scope, courier, config) {
-  config.watch('dateFormat:tz', setDefaultTimezone, $scope);
-  config.watch('dateFormat:dow', setStartDayOfWeek, $scope);
-
-  function setDefaultTimezone(tz) {
-    moment.tz.setDefault(tz);
-  }
-
-  function setStartDayOfWeek(day) {
-    const dow = moment.weekdays().indexOf(day);
-    moment.updateLocale(moment.locale(), { week: { dow } });
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/timelion/public/app.js b/src/core_plugins/timelion/public/app.js
index ffadf7c9cdb1bc..316a9704b5c3d3 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/timelion/public/app.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/timelion/public/app.js
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
  */
 
 import _ from 'lodash';
-import moment from 'moment-timezone';
 
 import { DocTitleProvider } from 'ui/doc_title';
 import { SavedObjectRegistryProvider } from 'ui/saved_objects/saved_object_registry';
@@ -101,9 +100,6 @@ app.controller('timelion', function (
   $scope.page = config.get('timelion:showTutorial', true) ? 1 : 0;
   $scope.setPage = (page) => $scope.page = page;
 
-  // TODO: For some reason the Kibana core doesn't correctly do this for all apps.
-  moment.tz.setDefault(config.get('dateFormat:tz'));
-
   timefilter.enableAutoRefreshSelector();
   timefilter.enableTimeRangeSelector();
 
diff --git a/src/ui/public/autoload/all.js b/src/ui/public/autoload/all.js
index fba21aacd19848..b1aa11cb724946 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/autoload/all.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/autoload/all.js
@@ -21,4 +21,5 @@ import './accessibility';
 import './modules';
 import './directives';
 import './filters';
+import './settings';
 import './styles';
diff --git a/src/ui/public/autoload/settings.js b/src/ui/public/autoload/settings.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..48505037dffe4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/public/autoload/settings.js
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Autoload this file if we want some of the top level settings applied to a plugin.
+ * Currently this file makes sure the following settings are applied globally:
+ * - dateFormat:tz (meaning the Kibana time zone will be used in your plugin)
+ * - dateFormat:dow (meaning the Kibana configured start of the week will be used in your plugin)
+ */
+
+import moment from 'moment-timezone';
+import chrome from '../chrome';
+
+function setDefaultTimezone(tz) {
+  moment.tz.setDefault(tz);
+}
+
+function setStartDayOfWeek(day) {
+  const dow = moment.weekdays().indexOf(day);
+  moment.updateLocale(moment.locale(), { week: { dow } });
+}
+
+const uiSettings = chrome.getUiSettingsClient();
+
+setDefaultTimezone(uiSettings.get('dateFormat:tz'));
+setStartDayOfWeek(uiSettings.get('dateFormat:dow'));
+
+uiSettings.subscribe(({ key, newValue }) => {
+  if (key === 'dateFormat:tz') {
+    setDefaultTimezone(newValue);
+  } else if (key === 'dateFormat:dow') {
+    setStartDayOfWeek(newValue);
+  }
+});
diff --git a/test/plugin_functional/plugins/visualize_embedding/public/app.js b/test/plugin_functional/plugins/visualize_embedding/public/app.js
index 3f622c946a1159..4463feac27513d 100644
--- a/test/plugin_functional/plugins/visualize_embedding/public/app.js
+++ b/test/plugin_functional/plugins/visualize_embedding/public/app.js
@@ -37,34 +37,6 @@ import 'uiExports/savedObjectTypes';
 import 'uiExports/fieldFormats';
 import 'uiExports/search';
 
-// ----------- TODO Remove once https://github.com/elastic/kibana/pull/22623 is merged
-
-import moment from 'moment-timezone';
-
-function setDefaultTimezone(tz) {
-  moment.tz.setDefault(tz);
-}
-
-function setStartDayOfWeek(day) {
-  const dow = moment.weekdays().indexOf(day);
-  moment.updateLocale(moment.locale(), { week: { dow } });
-}
-
-const uiSettings = chrome.getUiSettingsClient();
-
-setDefaultTimezone(uiSettings.get('dateFormat:tz'));
-setStartDayOfWeek(uiSettings.get('dateFormat:dow'));
-
-uiSettings.subscribe(({ key, newValue }) => {
-  if (key === 'dateFormat:tz') {
-    setDefaultTimezone(newValue);
-  } else if (key === 'dateFormat:dow') {
-    setStartDayOfWeek(newValue);
-  }
-});
-
-// ----------------- END OF REMOVAL ----------
-
 import { Main } from './components/main';
 
 const app = uiModules.get('apps/firewallDemoPlugin', ['kibana']);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/dashboard_mode/public/dashboard_viewer.js b/x-pack/plugins/dashboard_mode/public/dashboard_viewer.js
index ef2929f2ab2ff3..2b6997742280cc 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/dashboard_mode/public/dashboard_viewer.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/dashboard_mode/public/dashboard_viewer.js
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ import 'leaflet';
 
 import { showAppRedirectNotification } from 'ui/notify';
 import { DashboardConstants, createDashboardEditUrl } from 'plugins/kibana/dashboard/dashboard_constants';
-import { KibanaRootController } from 'plugins/kibana/kibana_root_controller';
 
 uiModules.get('kibana')
   .config(dashboardConfigProvider => dashboardConfigProvider.turnHideWriteControlsOn());
@@ -47,9 +46,8 @@ routes.enable();
 routes.otherwise({ redirectTo: defaultUrl() });
 
 chrome
-  .setRootController('kibana', function ($controller, $scope, courier, config) {
+  .setRootController('kibana', function () {
     chrome.showOnlyById('kibana:dashboard');
-    $controller(KibanaRootController, { $scope, courier, config });
   });
 
 uiModules.get('kibana').run(showAppRedirectNotification);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/app.js b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/app.js
index ba1d17bdd9b8d8..ad76c56cfdf198 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/app.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/app.js
@@ -34,14 +34,6 @@ import 'plugins/ml/components/loading_indicator';
 import 'plugins/ml/settings';
 
 import uiRoutes from 'ui/routes';
-import moment from 'moment-timezone';
-import { uiModules } from 'ui/modules';
-
-const uiModule = uiModules.get('kibana');
-uiModule.run((config) => {
-  // Set the timezone for moment formatting to that configured in Kibana.
-  moment.tz.setDefault(config.get('dateFormat:tz'));
-});
 
 if (typeof uiRoutes.enable === 'function') {
   uiRoutes.enable();
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/public/monitoring.js b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/public/monitoring.js
index f564848d02c902..0e4528ba679c3b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/public/monitoring.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/public/monitoring.js
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License.
  */
 
-import moment from 'moment-timezone';
 import uiRoutes from 'ui/routes';
 import chrome from 'ui/chrome';
 import 'ui/autoload/all';
@@ -20,9 +19,6 @@ import 'plugins/monitoring/views/all';
 
 const uiSettings = chrome.getUiSettingsClient();
 
-// Allow UTC times to be entered for Absolute Time range in timepicker
-moment.tz.setDefault(uiSettings.get('dateFormat:tz'));
-
 // default timepicker default to the last hour
 uiSettings.overrideLocalDefault('timepicker:timeDefaults', JSON.stringify({
   from: 'now-1h',