diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 65c96d112d3..f630124c7f3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 - Fixed disabled states of icon buttons ([#963](https://github.com/elastic/eui/pull/963))
 - Added word-break fallback for FF & IE in table cell ([#962](https://github.com/elastic/eui/pull/962))
+- Fixed `EuiPopover` to show content over modals, flyouts, etc ([#967](https://github.com/elastic/eui/pull/967))
 
 ## [`1.0.1`](https://github.com/elastic/eui/tree/v1.0.1)
 
diff --git a/src-docs/src/views/flyout/flyout_complicated.js b/src-docs/src/views/flyout/flyout_complicated.js
index 562ea077318..81b4ecdcf01 100644
--- a/src-docs/src/views/flyout/flyout_complicated.js
+++ b/src-docs/src/views/flyout/flyout_complicated.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   EuiFlyoutBody,
   EuiFlyoutFooter,
   EuiFlyoutHeader,
+  EuiPopover,
   EuiSpacer,
   EuiTab,
   EuiTabs,
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ export class FlyoutComplicated extends Component {
       isFlyoutVisible: false,
       isSwitchChecked: true,
       selectedTabId: '1',
+      isPopoverOpen: false,
     };
 
     this.tabs = [{
@@ -55,6 +57,14 @@ export class FlyoutComplicated extends Component {
     this.setState({ isFlyoutVisible: true });
   }
 
+  closePopover = () => {
+    this.setState({ isPopoverOpen: false });
+  }
+
+  togglePopover = () => {
+    this.setState(({ isPopoverOpen }) => ({ isPopoverOpen: !isPopoverOpen }));
+  }
+
   onSelectedTabChanged = id => {
     this.setState({
       selectedTabId: id,
@@ -162,6 +172,13 @@ export class FlyoutComplicated extends Component {
             </EuiTabs>
           </EuiFlyoutHeader>
           <EuiFlyoutBody>
+            <EuiPopover
+              closePopover={this.closePopover}
+              button={<EuiButton onClick={this.togglePopover}>Even popovers can be included</EuiButton>}
+              isOpen={this.state.isPopoverOpen}
+            >
+              <p>This is the popover content, notice how it can overflow the flyout!</p>
+            </EuiPopover>
             {flyoutContent}
             <EuiCodeBlock language="html">
               {htmlCode}
diff --git a/src/components/popover/popover.js b/src/components/popover/popover.js
index f7a8189c8c1..b48c7f14b6d 100644
--- a/src/components/popover/popover.js
+++ b/src/components/popover/popover.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import { EuiPanel, SIZES } from '../panel';
 
 import { EuiPortal } from '../portal';
 
-import { findPopoverPosition } from '../../services/popover/popover_positioning';
+import { findPopoverPosition, getElementZIndex } from '../../services/popover/popover_positioning';
 
 const anchorPositionToPopoverPositionMap = {
   'up': 'top',
@@ -189,9 +189,15 @@ export class EuiPopover extends Component {
       }
     });
 
+    // the popver's z-index must inherit from the button
+    // this keeps a button's popver under a flyover that would cover the button
+    // but a popover triggered inside a flyover will appear over that flyover
+    const zIndex = getElementZIndex(this.button, this.panel);
+
     const popoverStyles = {
       top,
       left,
+      zIndex,
     };
 
     const arrowStyles = arrow;
diff --git a/src/services/popover/popover_positioning.js b/src/services/popover/popover_positioning.js
index b6a1b1527fa..d41f55d6a35 100644
--- a/src/services/popover/popover_positioning.js
+++ b/src/services/popover/popover_positioning.js
@@ -508,3 +508,67 @@ export function intersectBoundingBoxes(firstBox, secondBox) {
 
   return intersection;
 }
+
+
+/**
+ * Returns the top-most defined z-index in the element's ancestor hierarchy
+ * relative to the `target` element; if no z-index is defined, returns "0"
+ * @param element {HTMLElement|React.Component}
+ * @param cousin {HTMLElement|React.Component}
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+export function getElementZIndex(element, cousin) {
+  element = findDOMNode(element);
+  cousin = findDOMNode(cousin);
+
+  /**
+   * finding the z-index of `element` is not the full story
+   * its the CSS stacking context that is important
+   * take this DOM for example:
+   * body
+   *   section[z-index: 1000]
+   *     p[z-index: 500]
+   *       button
+   *   div
+   *
+   * what z-index does the `div` need to display next to `button`?
+   * the `div` and `section` are where the stacking context splits
+   * so `div` needs to copy `section`'s z-index in order to
+   * appear next to / over `button`
+   *
+   * calculate this by starting at `button` and finding its offsetParents
+   * then walk the parents from top -> down until the stacking context
+   * split is found, or if there is no split then a specific z-index is unimportant
+   */
+
+  // build the array of the element + its offset parents
+  const nodesToInspect = [];
+  while (true) {
+    nodesToInspect.push(element);
+
+    element = element.offsetParent;
+
+    // stop if there is no parent
+    if (element == null) break;
+
+    // stop if the parent contains the related element
+    // as this is the z-index ancestor
+    if (element.contains(cousin)) break;
+  }
+
+  // reverse the nodes to walk from top -> element
+  nodesToInspect.reverse();
+
+  return nodesToInspect.reduce(
+    (foundZIndex, node) => {
+      if (foundZIndex != null) return foundZIndex;
+
+      // get this node's z-index css value
+      const zIndex = window.document.defaultView.getComputedStyle(node).getPropertyValue('z-index');
+
+      // if the z-index is not a number (e.g. "auto") return null, else the value
+      return isNaN(zIndex) ? null : zIndex;
+    },
+    null
+  ) || '0';
+}