diff --git a/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py b/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py
index c51882afc4871..93c9567380f7f 100644
--- a/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py
+++ b/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 )
 from pandas.compat.numpy import function as nv
 
+from pandas.core.dtypes.cast import astype_td64_unit_conversion
 from pandas.core.dtypes.common import (
     DT64NS_DTYPE,
     TD64NS_DTYPE,
@@ -35,7 +36,6 @@
     is_scalar,
     is_string_dtype,
     is_timedelta64_dtype,
-    is_timedelta64_ns_dtype,
     pandas_dtype,
 )
 from pandas.core.dtypes.dtypes import DatetimeTZDtype
@@ -324,22 +324,14 @@ def astype(self, dtype, copy: bool = True):
         # DatetimeLikeArrayMixin super call handles other cases
         dtype = pandas_dtype(dtype)
 
-        if is_timedelta64_dtype(dtype) and not is_timedelta64_ns_dtype(dtype):
-            # by pandas convention, converting to non-nano timedelta64
-            #  returns an int64-dtyped array with ints representing multiples
-            #  of the desired timedelta unit.  This is essentially division
-            if self._hasnans:
-                # avoid double-copying
-                result = self._data.astype(dtype, copy=False)
-                return self._maybe_mask_results(
-                    result, fill_value=None, convert="float64"
-                )
-            result = self._data.astype(dtype, copy=copy)
-            return result.astype("i8")
-        elif is_timedelta64_ns_dtype(dtype):
+        if is_dtype_equal(dtype, self.dtype):
             if copy:
                 return self.copy()
             return self
+
+        elif dtype.kind == "m":
+            return astype_td64_unit_conversion(self._data, dtype, copy=copy)
+
         return dtl.DatetimeLikeArrayMixin.astype(self, dtype, copy=copy)
 
     def __iter__(self):
diff --git a/pandas/core/dtypes/cast.py b/pandas/core/dtypes/cast.py
index 63445d0e1598d..059b354ee823f 100644
--- a/pandas/core/dtypes/cast.py
+++ b/pandas/core/dtypes/cast.py
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@
 
 from pandas.core.dtypes.common import (
     DT64NS_DTYPE,
-    INT64_DTYPE,
     POSSIBLY_CAST_DTYPES,
     TD64NS_DTYPE,
     ensure_int8,
@@ -952,6 +951,39 @@ def coerce_indexer_dtype(indexer, categories):
     return ensure_int64(indexer)
 
 
+def astype_td64_unit_conversion(
+    values: np.ndarray, dtype: np.dtype, copy: bool
+) -> np.ndarray:
+    """
+    By pandas convention, converting to non-nano timedelta64
+    returns an int64-dtyped array with ints representing multiples
+    of the desired timedelta unit.  This is essentially division.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    values : np.ndarray[timedelta64[ns]]
+    dtype : np.dtype
+        timedelta64 with unit not-necessarily nano
+    copy : bool
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    np.ndarray
+    """
+    if is_dtype_equal(values.dtype, dtype):
+        if copy:
+            return values.copy()
+        return values
+
+    # otherwise we are converting to non-nano
+    result = values.astype(dtype, copy=False)  # avoid double-copying
+    result = result.astype(np.float64)
+
+    mask = isna(values)
+    np.putmask(result, mask, np.nan)
+    return result
+
+
 def astype_nansafe(
     arr, dtype: DtypeObj, copy: bool = True, skipna: bool = False
 ) -> ArrayLike:
@@ -1007,17 +1039,8 @@ def astype_nansafe(
                 raise ValueError("Cannot convert NaT values to integer")
             return arr.view(dtype)
 
-        if dtype not in [INT64_DTYPE, TD64NS_DTYPE]:
-
-            # allow frequency conversions
-            # we return a float here!
-            if dtype.kind == "m":
-                mask = isna(arr)
-                result = arr.astype(dtype).astype(np.float64)
-                result[mask] = np.nan
-                return result
-        elif dtype == TD64NS_DTYPE:
-            return arr.astype(TD64NS_DTYPE, copy=copy)
+        elif dtype.kind == "m":
+            return astype_td64_unit_conversion(arr, dtype, copy=copy)
 
         raise TypeError(f"cannot astype a timedelta from [{arr.dtype}] to [{dtype}]")
 
diff --git a/pandas/core/indexes/timedeltas.py b/pandas/core/indexes/timedeltas.py
index 24cc2ae0c4d48..5cf1def014450 100644
--- a/pandas/core/indexes/timedeltas.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/timedeltas.py
@@ -4,24 +4,14 @@
 from pandas._libs.tslibs import Timedelta, to_offset
 from pandas._typing import DtypeObj
 from pandas.errors import InvalidIndexError
-from pandas.util._decorators import doc
-
-from pandas.core.dtypes.common import (
-    TD64NS_DTYPE,
-    is_scalar,
-    is_timedelta64_dtype,
-    is_timedelta64_ns_dtype,
-    pandas_dtype,
-)
+
+from pandas.core.dtypes.common import TD64NS_DTYPE, is_scalar, is_timedelta64_dtype
 
 from pandas.core.arrays import datetimelike as dtl
 from pandas.core.arrays.timedeltas import TimedeltaArray
 import pandas.core.common as com
 from pandas.core.indexes.base import Index, maybe_extract_name
-from pandas.core.indexes.datetimelike import (
-    DatetimeIndexOpsMixin,
-    DatetimeTimedeltaMixin,
-)
+from pandas.core.indexes.datetimelike import DatetimeTimedeltaMixin
 from pandas.core.indexes.extension import inherit_names
 
 
@@ -159,19 +149,6 @@ def __new__(
 
     # -------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-    @doc(Index.astype)
-    def astype(self, dtype, copy: bool = True):
-        dtype = pandas_dtype(dtype)
-        if is_timedelta64_dtype(dtype) and not is_timedelta64_ns_dtype(dtype):
-            # Have to repeat the check for 'timedelta64' (not ns) dtype
-            #  so that we can return a numeric index, since pandas will return
-            #  a TimedeltaIndex when dtype='timedelta'
-            result = self._data.astype(dtype, copy=copy)
-            if self.hasnans:
-                return Index(result, name=self.name)
-            return Index(result.astype("i8"), name=self.name)
-        return DatetimeIndexOpsMixin.astype(self, dtype, copy=copy)
-
     def _is_comparable_dtype(self, dtype: DtypeObj) -> bool:
         """
         Can we compare values of the given dtype to our own?
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/timedeltas/test_timedelta.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/timedeltas/test_timedelta.py
index f0e730eecf3d5..a1bc50604d34b 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/timedeltas/test_timedelta.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/timedeltas/test_timedelta.py
@@ -189,6 +189,21 @@ def test_fields(self):
         rng.name = "name"
         assert rng.days.name == "name"
 
+    def test_freq_conversion_always_floating(self):
+        # even if we have no NaTs, we get back float64; this matches TDA and Series
+        tdi = timedelta_range("1 Day", periods=30)
+
+        res = tdi.astype("m8[s]")
+        expected = Index((tdi.view("i8") / 10 ** 9).astype(np.float64))
+        tm.assert_index_equal(res, expected)
+
+        # check this matches Series and TimedeltaArray
+        res = tdi._data.astype("m8[s]")
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(res, expected._values)
+
+        res = tdi.to_series().astype("m8[s]")
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(res._values, expected._values)
+
     def test_freq_conversion(self):
 
         # doc example