diff --git a/internal_packages/message-list/lib/message-timestamp.cjsx b/internal_packages/message-list/lib/message-timestamp.cjsx
index 7effc51a8..1a769b532 100644
--- a/internal_packages/message-list/lib/message-timestamp.cjsx
+++ b/internal_packages/message-list/lib/message-timestamp.cjsx
@@ -15,29 +15,28 @@ class MessageTimestamp extends React.Component
     +nextProps.date isnt +@props.date or nextProps.isDetailed isnt @props.isDetailed
 
   render: =>
+    msgDate = moment.tz(@props.date, Utils.timeZone)
+    nowDate = @_today()
+    formattedDate = @_formattedDate(nowDate, msgDate, @props.isDetailed)
     <div className={@props.className}
-         onClick={@props.onClick}>{@_formattedDate()}</div>
+         onClick={@props.onClick}>{formattedDate}</div>
 
-  _formattedDate: =>
-    moment.tz(@props.date, Utils.timeZone).format(@_timeFormat())
-
-  _timeFormat: =>
-    if @props.isDetailed
-      return "MMMM D, YYYY [at] h:mm A"
+  _formattedDate: (msgDate, now, isDetailed) =>
+    if isDetailed
+      return msgDate.format "MMMM D, YYYY [at] h:mm A"
     else
-      today = moment(@_today())
-      dayOfEra = today.dayOfYear() + today.year() * 365
-      msgDate = moment(@props.date)
-      msgDayOfEra = msgDate.dayOfYear() + msgDate.year() * 365
-      diff = dayOfEra - msgDayOfEra
-      if diff < 1
-        return "h:mm a"
-      if diff < 4
-        return "MMM D"
-      else if diff > 1 and diff <= 365
-        return "MMM D"
-      else
-        return "MMM D YYYY"
+      diff = now.diff(msgDate, 'days', true)
+      isSameDay = now.isSame(msgDate, 'days')
+      if diff < 1 and isSameDay
+        return msgDate.format "h:mm a"
+      if diff < 1.5 and not isSameDay
+        timeAgo = msgDate.from now
+        monthAndDay = msgDate.format "h:mm a"
+        return monthAndDay + " (" + timeAgo + ")"
+      if diff >= 1.5 and diff < 365
+        return msgDate.format "MMM D"
+      if diff >= 365
+        return msgDate.format "MMM D, YYYY"
 
   # Stubbable for testing. Returns a `moment`
   _today: -> moment.tz(Utils.timeZone)
diff --git a/internal_packages/message-list/spec/message-timestamp-spec.cjsx b/internal_packages/message-list/spec/message-timestamp-spec.cjsx
index 87b99cb43..9dbc948c7 100644
--- a/internal_packages/message-list/spec/message-timestamp-spec.cjsx
+++ b/internal_packages/message-list/spec/message-timestamp-spec.cjsx
@@ -3,43 +3,39 @@ React = require 'react/addons'
 TestUtils = React.addons.TestUtils
 MessageTimestamp = require '../lib/message-timestamp'
 
-testDate = ->
-  moment([2010, 1, 14, 15, 25, 50, 125])
+msgTime = ->
+  moment([2010, 1, 14, 15, 25, 50, 125]) # Feb 14, 2010 at 3:25pm
 
 describe "MessageTimestamp", ->
   beforeEach ->
     @item = TestUtils.renderIntoDocument(
-      <MessageTimestamp date={testDate()} />
+      <MessageTimestamp date={msgTime()} />
     )
 
-  # test messsage time is 1415814587
-  it "displays the time from messages LONG ago", ->
-    spyOn(@item, "_today").andCallFake -> testDate().add(2, 'years')
-    expect(@item._timeFormat()).toBe "MMM D YYYY"
-
-  it "displays the time and date from a while ago", ->
-    spyOn(@item, "_today").andCallFake -> testDate().add(7, 'days')
-    expect(@item._timeFormat()).toBe "MMM D"
-
-  it "displays the time and date from messages a couple days ago", ->
-    spyOn(@item, "_today").andCallFake -> testDate().add(2, 'days')
-    expect(@item._timeFormat()).toBe "MMM D"
-
-  it "displays the time and date messages exactly a day ago", ->
-    spyOn(@item, "_today").andCallFake -> testDate().add(1, 'day')
-    expect(@item._timeFormat()).toBe "MMM D"
-
-  it "displays the time from messages yesterday with the day, even though it's less than 24 hours ago", ->
-    spyOn(@item, "_today").andCallFake -> moment([2010, 1, 15, 2, 25, 50, 125])
-    expect(@item._timeFormat()).toBe "MMM D"
-
-  it "displays the time from messages recently", ->
-    spyOn(@item, "_today").andCallFake -> testDate().add(2, 'hours')
-    expect(@item._timeFormat()).toBe "h:mm a"
+  it "still processes one day, even if it crosses a month divider", ->
+    # this should be tested in moment.js, but we add a test here for our own sanity too
+    feb28 = moment([2015, 1, 28])
+    mar01 = moment([2015, 2, 1])
+    expect(mar01.diff(feb28, 'days')).toBe 1
 
   it "displays the full time when in detailed timestamp mode", ->
-    itemDetailed = TestUtils.renderIntoDocument(
-      <MessageTimestamp date={testDate()} isDetailed={true} />
-    )
-    spyOn(itemDetailed, "_today").andCallFake -> testDate()
-    expect(itemDetailed._timeFormat()).toBe "MMMM D, YYYY [at] h:mm A"
+    expect(@item._formattedDate(msgTime(), null, true)).toBe "February 14, 2010 at 3:25 PM"
+
+  it "displays the time from messages shown today", ->
+    now = msgTime().add(2, 'hours')
+    expect(@item._formattedDate(msgTime(), now)).toBe "3:25 pm"
+
+  it "displays the time from messages yesterday with the relative time if it's less than 36 hours ago", ->
+    now = msgTime().add(21, 'hours')
+    expect(@item._formattedDate(msgTime(), now)).toBe "3:25 pm (21 hours ago)"
+
+    now = msgTime().add(30, 'hours')
+    expect(@item._formattedDate(msgTime(), now)).toBe "3:25 pm (a day ago)"
+
+  it "displays month, day for messages less than a year ago, but more than 24 hours ago", ->
+    now = msgTime().add(2, 'months')
+    expect(@item._formattedDate(msgTime(), now)).toBe "Feb 14"
+
+  it "displays month, day, and year for messages over a year ago", ->
+    now = msgTime().add(2, 'years')
+    expect(@item._formattedDate(msgTime(), now)).toBe "Feb 14, 2010"
\ No newline at end of file