diff --git a/cli/src/template_builder.rs b/cli/src/template_builder.rs
index 7dbb31877..ad62aeb25 100644
--- a/cli/src/template_builder.rs
+++ b/cli/src/template_builder.rs
@@ -665,8 +665,10 @@ fn builtin_timestamp_methods<'a, L: TemplateLanguage<'a>>(
     let mut map = TemplateBuildMethodFnMap::<L, Timestamp>::new();
     map.insert("ago", |language, _build_ctx, self_property, function| {
         template_parser::expect_no_arguments(function)?;
-        let out_property = TemplateFunction::new(self_property, |timestamp| {
-            Ok(time_util::format_timestamp_relative_to_now(&timestamp))
+        let now = Timestamp::now();
+        let format = timeago::Formatter::new();
+        let out_property = TemplateFunction::new(self_property, move |timestamp| {
+            Ok(time_util::format_duration(&timestamp, &now, &format))
         });
         Ok(language.wrap_string(out_property))
     });
diff --git a/cli/src/time_util.rs b/cli/src/time_util.rs
index d5a0fabec..fbffe34b4 100644
--- a/cli/src/time_util.rs
+++ b/cli/src/time_util.rs
@@ -81,7 +81,3 @@ pub fn format_duration(from: &Timestamp, to: &Timestamp, format: &timeago::Forma
         .map(|duration| format.convert(duration))
         .unwrap_or_else(|| "<out-of-range date>".to_string())
 }
-
-pub fn format_timestamp_relative_to_now(timestamp: &Timestamp) -> String {
-    format_duration(timestamp, &Timestamp::now(), &timeago::Formatter::new())
-}