diff --git a/client/app/scripts/components/node-details.js b/client/app/scripts/components/node-details.js
index 4f6bdb4fba..0f8de12092 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/components/node-details.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/components/node-details.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import { clickCloseDetails, clickShowTopologyForNode } from '../actions/app-acti
 import { brightenColor, getNeutralColor, getNodeColorDark } from '../utils/color-utils';
 import { isGenericTable, isPropertyList } from '../utils/node-details-utils';
 import { resetDocumentTitle, setDocumentTitle } from '../utils/title-utils';
-import { timestampsEqual } from '../utils/time-utils';
 
 import Overlay from './overlay';
 import MatchedText from './matched-text';
@@ -307,7 +306,7 @@ class NodeDetails extends React.Component {
 function mapStateToProps(state, ownProps) {
   const currentTopologyId = state.get('currentTopologyId');
   return {
-    transitioning: !timestampsEqual(state.get('pausedAt'), ownProps.timestamp),
+    transitioning: state.get('pausedAt') !== ownProps.timestamp,
     nodeMatches: state.getIn(['searchNodeMatches', currentTopologyId, ownProps.id]),
     nodes: state.get('nodes'),
     selectedNodeId: state.get('selectedNodeId'),
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/__tests__/node-details-health-link-item-test.js b/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/__tests__/node-details-health-link-item-test.js
index f379b2f307..bb29dc11b1 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/__tests__/node-details-health-link-item-test.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/__tests__/node-details-health-link-item-test.js
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ import { appendTime } from '../node-details-health-link-item';
 
 describe('NodeDetailsHealthLinkItem', () => {
   describe('appendTime', () => {
-    const time = moment.unix(1496275200);
+    const time = '2017-06-01T00:00:00Z';
+    const timeUnix = moment(time).unix();
 
     it('returns url for empty url or time', () => {
       expect(appendTime('', time)).toEqual('');
@@ -15,10 +16,10 @@ describe('NodeDetailsHealthLinkItem', () => {
 
     it('appends as json for cloud link', () => {
       const url = appendTime('/prom/:orgid/notebook/new/%7B%22cells%22%3A%5B%7B%22queries%22%3A%5B%22go_goroutines%22%5D%7D%5D%7D', time);
-      expect(url).toContain(time.unix());
+      expect(url).toContain(timeUnix);
 
       const payload = JSON.parse(decodeURIComponent(url.substr(url.indexOf('new/') + 4)));
-      expect(payload.time.queryEnd).toEqual(time.unix());
+      expect(payload.time.queryEnd).toEqual(timeUnix);
     });
 
     it('appends as GET parameter', () => {
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/node-details-health-link-item.js b/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/node-details-health-link-item.js
index abe08915e9..e0c45b47a1 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/node-details-health-link-item.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/components/node-details/node-details-health-link-item.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import React from 'react';
+import moment from 'moment';
 import { connect } from 'react-redux';
 
 import NodeDetailsHealthItem from './node-details-health-item';
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ import { trackAnalyticsEvent } from '../../utils/tracking-utils';
 
 /**
  * @param {string} url
- * @param {Moment} time
+ * @param {string} time
  * @returns {string}
  */
 export function appendTime(url, time) {
@@ -18,12 +19,13 @@ export function appendTime(url, time) {
   // rudimentary check whether we have a cloud link
   const cloudLinkPathEnd = 'notebook/new/';
   const pos = url.indexOf(cloudLinkPathEnd);
+  const timeUnix = moment(time).unix();
   if (pos !== -1) {
     let payload;
     const json = decodeURIComponent(url.substr(pos + cloudLinkPathEnd.length));
     try {
       payload = JSON.parse(json);
-      payload.time = { queryEnd: time.unix() };
+      payload.time = { queryEnd: timeUnix };
     } catch (e) {
       return url;
     }
@@ -32,9 +34,9 @@ export function appendTime(url, time) {
   }
 
   if (url.indexOf('?') !== -1) {
-    return `${url}&time=${time.unix()}`;
+    return `${url}&time=${timeUnix}`;
   }
-  return `${url}?time=${time.unix()}`;
+  return `${url}?time=${timeUnix}`;
 }
 
 class NodeDetailsHealthLinkItem extends React.Component {
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/components/time-travel-wrapper.js b/client/app/scripts/components/time-travel-wrapper.js
index c7c2a9178a..5795d1dc91 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/components/time-travel-wrapper.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/components/time-travel-wrapper.js
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ class TimeTravelWrapper extends React.Component {
   constructor(props, context) {
     super(props, context);
 
-    this.changeTimestamp = this.changeTimestamp.bind(this);
     this.trackTimestampEdit = this.trackTimestampEdit.bind(this);
     this.trackTimelinePanButtonClick = this.trackTimelinePanButtonClick.bind(this);
     this.trackTimelineLabelClick = this.trackTimelineLabelClick.bind(this);
@@ -31,10 +30,6 @@ class TimeTravelWrapper extends React.Component {
     this.trackTimelinePan = this.trackTimelinePan.bind(this);
   }
 
-  changeTimestamp(timestamp) {
-    this.props.jumpToTime(moment(timestamp).utc());
-  }
-
   trackTimestampEdit() {
     trackAnalyticsEvent('scope.time.timestamp.edit', {
       layout: this.props.topologyViewMode,
@@ -82,7 +77,7 @@ class TimeTravelWrapper extends React.Component {
         <TimeTravel
           timestamp={this.props.timestamp}
           earliestTimestamp={this.props.earliestTimestamp}
-          onChangeTimestamp={this.changeTimestamp}
+          onChangeTimestamp={this.props.jumpToTime}
           onTimestampInputEdit={this.trackTimestampEdit}
           onTimelinePanButtonClick={this.trackTimelinePanButtonClick}
           onTimelineLabelClick={this.trackTimelineLabelClick}
@@ -96,14 +91,13 @@ class TimeTravelWrapper extends React.Component {
 
 function mapStateToProps(state, { params }) {
   const scopeState = state.scope || state;
-  const pausedAt = scopeState.get('pausedAt');
   let firstSeenConnectedAt;
 
   // If we're in the Weave Cloud context, use firstSeeConnectedAt as the earliest timestamp.
   if (state.root && state.root.instances) {
     const serviceInstance = state.root.instances[params && params.orgId];
     if (serviceInstance && serviceInstance.firstSeenConnectedAt) {
-      firstSeenConnectedAt = moment(serviceInstance.firstSeenConnectedAt);
+      firstSeenConnectedAt = moment(serviceInstance.firstSeenConnectedAt).utc().format();
     }
   }
 
@@ -111,8 +105,8 @@ function mapStateToProps(state, { params }) {
     visible: scopeState.get('showingTimeTravel'),
     topologyViewMode: scopeState.get('topologyViewMode'),
     currentTopology: scopeState.get('currentTopology'),
-    earliestTimestamp: firstSeenConnectedAt && firstSeenConnectedAt.utc().format(),
-    timestamp: pausedAt && pausedAt.utc().format(),
+    earliestTimestamp: firstSeenConnectedAt,
+    timestamp: scopeState.get('pausedAt'),
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/reducers/root.js b/client/app/scripts/reducers/root.js
index 80bb49411b..eadefb6f89 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/reducers/root.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/reducers/root.js
@@ -21,9 +21,7 @@ import {
 } from '../selectors/topology';
 import { isPausedSelector } from '../selectors/time-travel';
 import { activeTopologyZoomCacheKeyPathSelector } from '../selectors/zooming';
-import { timestampsEqual } from '../utils/time-utils';
 import { applyPinnedSearches } from '../utils/search-utils';
-import { deserializeTimestamp } from '../utils/web-api-utils';
 import {
   findTopologyById,
   setTopologyUrlsById,
@@ -381,13 +379,13 @@ export function rootReducer(state = initialState, action) {
     case ActionTypes.PAUSE_TIME_AT_NOW: {
       state = state.set('showingTimeTravel', false);
       state = state.set('timeTravelTransitioning', false);
-      return state.set('pausedAt', moment().utc());
+      return state.set('pausedAt', moment().utc().format());
     }
 
     case ActionTypes.START_TIME_TRAVEL: {
       state = state.set('showingTimeTravel', true);
       state = state.set('timeTravelTransitioning', false);
-      return state.set('pausedAt', action.timestamp || moment().utc());
+      return state.set('pausedAt', action.timestamp || moment().utc().format());
     }
 
     case ActionTypes.JUMP_TO_TIME: {
@@ -555,7 +553,7 @@ export function rootReducer(state = initialState, action) {
     case ActionTypes.RECEIVE_NODE_DETAILS: {
       // Ignore the update if paused and the timestamp didn't change.
       const setTimestamp = state.getIn(['nodeDetails', action.details.id, 'timestamp']);
-      if (isPausedSelector(state) && timestampsEqual(action.requestTimestamp, setTimestamp)) {
+      if (isPausedSelector(state) && action.requestTimestamp === setTimestamp) {
         return state;
       }
 
@@ -695,7 +693,7 @@ export function rootReducer(state = initialState, action) {
       });
       state = state.set('topologyViewMode', action.state.topologyViewMode);
       if (action.state.pausedAt) {
-        state = state.set('pausedAt', deserializeTimestamp(action.state.pausedAt));
+        state = state.set('pausedAt', action.state.pausedAt);
       }
       if (action.state.gridSortedBy) {
         state = state.set('gridSortedBy', action.state.gridSortedBy);
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/utils/__tests__/web-api-utils-test.js b/client/app/scripts/utils/__tests__/web-api-utils-test.js
index 9b22cedb53..40b8d63964 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/utils/__tests__/web-api-utils-test.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/utils/__tests__/web-api-utils-test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import moment from 'moment';
 import { Map as makeMap, OrderedMap as makeOrderedMap } from 'immutable';
 
 import { buildUrlQuery, basePath, getApiPath, getWebsocketUrl } from '../web-api-utils';
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ describe('WebApiUtils', () => {
     });
 
     it('should combine multiple options with a timestamp', () => {
-      state = state.set('pausedAt', moment('2015-06-14T21:12:05.275Z'));
+      state = state.set('pausedAt', '2015-06-14T21:12:05.275Z');
       expect(buildUrlQuery(makeOrderedMap([
         ['foo', 2],
         ['bar', 4]
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/utils/router-utils.js b/client/app/scripts/utils/router-utils.js
index ae0c3a7430..2de85b253f 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/utils/router-utils.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/utils/router-utils.js
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { each } from 'lodash';
 
 import { route } from '../actions/app-actions';
 import { storageGet, storageSet } from './storage-utils';
-import { serializeTimestamp } from './web-api-utils';
 
 //
 // page.js won't match the routes below if ":state" has a slash in it, so replace those before we
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ export function getUrlState(state) {
   const urlState = {
     controlPipe: cp ? cp.toJS() : null,
     nodeDetails: nodeDetails.toJS(),
-    pausedAt: serializeTimestamp(state.get('pausedAt')),
+    pausedAt: state.get('pausedAt'),
     topologyViewMode: state.get('topologyViewMode'),
     pinnedMetricType: state.get('pinnedMetricType'),
     pinnedSearches: state.get('pinnedSearches').toJS(),
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/utils/time-utils.js b/client/app/scripts/utils/time-utils.js
index f2474fb970..c5fb67f127 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/utils/time-utils.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/utils/time-utils.js
@@ -9,9 +9,3 @@ export function timer(fn) {
   };
   return timedFn;
 }
-
-export function timestampsEqual(timestampA, timestampB) {
-  const stringifiedTimestampA = timestampA ? timestampA.toISOString() : '';
-  const stringifiedTimestampB = timestampB ? timestampB.toISOString() : '';
-  return stringifiedTimestampA === stringifiedTimestampB;
-}
diff --git a/client/app/scripts/utils/web-api-utils.js b/client/app/scripts/utils/web-api-utils.js
index 7f9d503b45..1a6462d3fd 100644
--- a/client/app/scripts/utils/web-api-utils.js
+++ b/client/app/scripts/utils/web-api-utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import debug from 'debug';
-import moment from 'moment';
 import reqwest from 'reqwest';
 import { defaults } from 'lodash';
 import { Map as makeMap, List } from 'immutable';
@@ -50,17 +49,9 @@ let firstMessageOnWebsocketAt = null;
 let continuePolling = true;
 
 
-export function serializeTimestamp(timestamp) {
-  return timestamp ? timestamp.toISOString() : null;
-}
-
-export function deserializeTimestamp(str) {
-  return str ? moment(str) : null;
-}
-
 export function buildUrlQuery(params = makeMap(), state) {
   // Attach the time travel timestamp to every request to the backend.
-  params = params.set('timestamp', serializeTimestamp(state.get('pausedAt')));
+  params = params.set('timestamp', state.get('pausedAt'));
 
   // Ignore the entries with values `null` or `undefined`.
   return params.map((value, param) => {