diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/time/DateUtils.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/time/DateUtils.java
index 46a45f80aedff..bec8fd927c2cc 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/time/DateUtils.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/time/DateUtils.java
@@ -23,9 +23,12 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.DeprecationLogger;
 import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 
+import java.time.Clock;
+import java.time.Duration;
 import java.time.Instant;
 import java.time.ZoneId;
 import java.time.ZoneOffset;
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -217,4 +220,22 @@ private static long of(final int year, final int month) {
         millis += getTotalMillisByYearMonth(year, month);
         return millis;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the current UTC date-time with milliseconds precision.
+     * In Java 9+ (as opposed to Java 8) the {@code Clock} implementation uses system's best clock implementation (which could mean
+     * that the precision of the clock can be milliseconds, microseconds or nanoseconds), whereas in Java 8
+     * {@code System.currentTimeMillis()} is always used. To account for these differences, this method defines a new {@code Clock}
+     * which will offer a value for {@code ZonedDateTime.now()} set to always have milliseconds precision.
+     *
+     * @return {@link ZonedDateTime} instance for the current date-time with milliseconds precision in UTC
+     */
+    public static ZonedDateTime nowWithMillisResolution() {
+        return nowWithMillisResolution(Clock.systemUTC());
+    }
+
+    public static ZonedDateTime nowWithMillisResolution(Clock clock) {
+        Clock millisResolutionClock = Clock.tick(clock, Duration.ofMillis(1));
+        return ZonedDateTime.now(millisResolutionClock);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherIndexingListenerTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherIndexingListenerTests.java
index 96471549e1e56..91422101cd96f 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherIndexingListenerTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/WatcherIndexingListenerTests.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.routing.TestShardRouting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesArray;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.time.DateUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.Index;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.Engine;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.ShardId;
@@ -41,7 +42,6 @@
 import org.junit.Before;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.time.ZoneOffset;
 import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.BitSet;
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ public void testPreIndexCheckActive() throws Exception {
         verifyZeroInteractions(parser);
     }
 
-    @AwaitsFix(bugUrl = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/38581")
     public void testPreIndex() throws Exception {
         when(operation.type()).thenReturn(Watch.DOC_TYPE);
         when(operation.id()).thenReturn(randomAlphaOfLength(10));
@@ -140,8 +139,7 @@ public void testPreIndex() throws Exception {
 
         Engine.Index returnedOperation = listener.preIndex(shardId, operation);
         assertThat(returnedOperation, is(operation));
-
-        ZonedDateTime now = clock.instant().atZone(ZoneOffset.UTC);
+        ZonedDateTime now = DateUtils.nowWithMillisResolution(clock);
         verify(parser).parseWithSecrets(eq(operation.id()), eq(true), eq(BytesArray.EMPTY), eq(now), anyObject(), anyLong(), anyLong());
 
         if (isNewWatch) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java
index b7e79e70084b7..0ecc3cd412f6d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Client;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.collect.MapBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.time.DateUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.watcher.actions.Action;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.watcher.actions.Action.Result.Status;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.watcher.execution.WatchExecutionContext;
+import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.watcher.support.WatcherDateTimeUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.watcher.support.xcontent.XContentSource;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.watcher.watch.Payload;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.test.WatcherTestUtils;
@@ -275,7 +277,6 @@ public void testConfigureIndexInMapAndAction() {
                 fieldName + "] or [ctx.payload._doc." + fieldName + "]"));
     }
 
-    @AwaitsFix(bugUrl = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/38581")
     public void testIndexActionExecuteSingleDoc() throws Exception {
         boolean customId = randomBoolean();
         boolean docIdAsParam = customId && randomBoolean();
@@ -286,7 +287,7 @@ public void testIndexActionExecuteSingleDoc() throws Exception {
                 refreshPolicy);
         ExecutableIndexAction executable = new ExecutableIndexAction(action, logger, client, TimeValue.timeValueSeconds(30),
                 TimeValue.timeValueSeconds(30));
-        ZonedDateTime executionTime = ZonedDateTime.now(ZoneOffset.UTC);
+        ZonedDateTime executionTime = DateUtils.nowWithMillisResolution();
         Payload payload;
 
         if (customId && docIdAsParam == false) {
@@ -326,7 +327,7 @@ public void testIndexActionExecuteSingleDoc() throws Exception {
 
         if (timestampField != null) {
             assertThat(indexRequest.sourceAsMap().keySet(), is(hasSize(2)));
-            assertThat(indexRequest.sourceAsMap(), hasEntry(timestampField, executionTime.toString()));
+            assertThat(indexRequest.sourceAsMap(), hasEntry(timestampField, WatcherDateTimeUtils.formatDate(executionTime)));
         } else {
             assertThat(indexRequest.sourceAsMap().keySet(), is(hasSize(1)));
         }