diff --git a/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formatevents_test.go b/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formatevents_test.go
index 6e78eb5713f9..a644676db754 100644
--- a/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formatevents_test.go
+++ b/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formatevents_test.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func TestEventFormatString(t *testing.T) {
 			"test timestamp formatter",
 			"%{[key]}: %{+YYYY.MM.dd}",
 			beat.Event{
-				Timestamp: time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.Local),
+				Timestamp: time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.UTC),
 				Fields: common.MapStr{
 					"key": "timestamp",
 				},
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ func TestEventFormatString(t *testing.T) {
 			"test timestamp formatter",
 			"%{[@timestamp]}: %{+YYYY.MM.dd}",
 			beat.Event{
-				Timestamp: time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.Local),
+				Timestamp: time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.UTC),
 				Fields: common.MapStr{
 					"key": "timestamp",
 				},
diff --git a/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formattimestamp_test.go b/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formattimestamp_test.go
index 4df8e6b3fdc1..1a2c91decdd5 100644
--- a/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formattimestamp_test.go
+++ b/libbeat/common/fmtstr/formattimestamp_test.go
@@ -73,14 +73,14 @@ func TestTimestampFormatString(t *testing.T) {
 			"test timestamp formatter",
 			"%{[key]}: %{+YYYY.MM.dd}",
 			common.MapStr{"key": "timestamp"},
-			time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.Local),
+			time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.UTC),
 			"timestamp: 2015.05.01",
 		},
 		{
 			"test timestamp formatter",
 			"%{[@timestamp]}: %{+YYYY.MM.dd}",
 			common.MapStr{"key": "timestamp"},
-			time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.Local),
+			time.Date(2015, 5, 1, 20, 12, 34, 0, time.UTC),
 			"2015-05-01T20:12:34.000Z: 2015.05.01",
 		},
 	}