diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/initializers/relative-ages.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/initializers/relative-ages.js
index 3e76e39f25c..887725954a3 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/initializers/relative-ages.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/initializers/relative-ages.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export default {
 
   initialize() {
     this._interval = setInterval(function () {
-      updateRelativeAge($(".relative-date"));
+      updateRelativeAge(document.querySelectorAll(".relative-date"));
     }, 60 * 1000);
   },
 
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/formatter.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/formatter.js
index 22b1b7f5e5b..f2ad73796d3 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/formatter.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/formatter.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
+import { helperContext, makeArray } from "discourse-common/lib/helpers";
+import deprecated from "discourse-common/lib/deprecated";
 import I18n from "I18n";
-import { helperContext } from "discourse-common/lib/helpers";
 
 export function shortDate(date) {
   return moment(date).format(I18n.t("dates.medium.date_year"));
@@ -49,15 +50,22 @@ export function longDateNoYear(dt) {
 }
 
 export function updateRelativeAge(elems) {
-  // jQuery .each
-  elems.each(function () {
-    const $this = $(this);
-    $this.html(
-      relativeAge(new Date($this.data("time")), {
-        format: $this.data("format"),
-        wrapInSpan: false,
-      })
-    );
+  if (elems instanceof jQuery) {
+    elems = elems.toArray();
+    deprecated("updateRelativeAge now expects a DOM NodeList", {
+      since: "2.8.0.beta7",
+    });
+  }
+
+  if (!NodeList.prototype.isPrototypeOf(elems)) {
+    elems = makeArray(elems);
+  }
+
+  elems.forEach((elem) => {
+    elem.innerHTML = relativeAge(new Date(parseInt(elem.dataset.time, 10)), {
+      format: elem.dataset.format,
+      wrapInSpan: false,
+    });
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/lib/formatter-test.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/lib/formatter-test.js
index 71cc9bc95a4..959719c0c3e 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/lib/formatter-test.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/lib/formatter-test.js
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ import { discourseModule } from "discourse/tests/helpers/qunit-helpers";
 import sinon from "sinon";
 import { test } from "qunit";
 
+function stringToDOMNode(string) {
+  let template = document.createElement("template");
+  string = string.trim();
+  template.innerHTML = string;
+  return template.content.firstChild;
+}
+
 function formatMins(mins, opts = {}) {
   let dt = new Date(new Date() - mins * 60 * 1000);
   return relativeAge(dt, {
@@ -37,7 +44,7 @@ function shortDateTester(format) {
 }
 
 function strip(html) {
-  return $(html).text();
+  return stringToDOMNode(html).innerText;
 }
 
 discourseModule("Unit | Utility | formatter", function (hooks) {
@@ -108,10 +115,15 @@ discourseModule("Unit | Utility | formatter", function (hooks) {
     );
 
     assert.equal(
-      $(formatDays(0, { format: "medium" })).attr("title"),
+      stringToDOMNode(formatDays(0, { format: "medium" })).title,
       longDate(new Date())
     );
-    assert.equal($(formatDays(0, { format: "medium" })).attr("class"), "date");
+
+    assert.ok(
+      stringToDOMNode(formatDays(0, { format: "medium" })).classList.contains(
+        "date"
+      )
+    );
 
     this.clock.restore();
     this.clock = sinon.useFakeTimers(new Date(2012, 0, 9, 12, 0).getTime()); // Jan 9, 2012
@@ -205,49 +217,52 @@ discourseModule("Unit | Utility | formatter", function (hooks) {
   test("autoUpdatingRelativeAge", function (assert) {
     let d = moment().subtract(1, "day").toDate();
 
-    let $elem = $(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d));
-    assert.equal($elem.data("format"), "tiny");
-    assert.equal($elem.data("time"), d.getTime());
-    assert.equal($elem.attr("title"), undefined);
+    let elem = stringToDOMNode(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d));
+    assert.equal(elem.dataset.format, "tiny");
+    assert.equal(elem.dataset.time, d.getTime());
+    assert.equal(elem.title, "");
 
-    $elem = $(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d, { title: true }));
-    assert.equal($elem.attr("title"), longDate(d));
+    elem = stringToDOMNode(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d, { title: true }));
+    assert.equal(elem.title, longDate(d));
 
-    $elem = $(
+    elem = stringToDOMNode(
       autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d, {
         format: "medium",
         title: true,
         leaveAgo: true,
       })
     );
-    assert.equal($elem.data("format"), "medium-with-ago");
-    assert.equal($elem.data("time"), d.getTime());
-    assert.equal($elem.attr("title"), longDate(d));
-    assert.equal($elem.html(), "1 day ago");
 
-    $elem = $(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d, { format: "medium" }));
-    assert.equal($elem.data("format"), "medium");
-    assert.equal($elem.data("time"), d.getTime());
-    assert.equal($elem.attr("title"), undefined);
-    assert.equal($elem.html(), "1 day");
+    assert.equal(elem.dataset.format, "medium-with-ago");
+    assert.equal(elem.dataset.time, d.getTime());
+    assert.equal(elem.title, longDate(d));
+    assert.equal(elem.innerHTML, "1 day ago");
+
+    elem = stringToDOMNode(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d, { format: "medium" }));
+    assert.equal(elem.dataset.format, "medium");
+    assert.equal(elem.dataset.time, d.getTime());
+    assert.equal(elem.title, "");
+    assert.equal(elem.innerHTML, "1 day");
   });
 
   test("updateRelativeAge", function (assert) {
     let d = new Date();
-    let $elem = $(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d));
-    $elem.data("time", d.getTime() - 2 * 60 * 1000);
+    let elem = stringToDOMNode(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d));
+    elem.dataset.time = d.getTime() - 2 * 60 * 1000;
 
-    updateRelativeAge($elem);
+    updateRelativeAge(elem);
 
-    assert.equal($elem.html(), "2m");
+    assert.equal(elem.innerHTML, "2m");
 
     d = new Date();
-    $elem = $(autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d, { format: "medium", leaveAgo: true }));
-    $elem.data("time", d.getTime() - 2 * 60 * 1000);
+    elem = stringToDOMNode(
+      autoUpdatingRelativeAge(d, { format: "medium", leaveAgo: true })
+    );
+    elem.dataset.time = d.getTime() - 2 * 60 * 1000;
 
-    updateRelativeAge($elem);
+    updateRelativeAge(elem);
 
-    assert.equal($elem.html(), "2 mins ago");
+    assert.equal(elem.innerHTML, "2 mins ago");
   });
 
   test("number", function (assert) {