diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexMetaData.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexMetaData.java
index 2680aa70b57..9634736cbeb 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexMetaData.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/IndexMetaData.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.warmer.IndexWarmersMetaData;
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
+import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.text.ParseException;
@@ -940,7 +941,7 @@ public class IndexMetaData implements Diffable<IndexMetaData> {
         }
         Long creationDate = settings.getAsLong(SETTING_CREATION_DATE, null);
         if (creationDate != null) {
-            DateTime creationDateTime = new DateTime(creationDate);
+            DateTime creationDateTime = new DateTime(creationDate, DateTimeZone.UTC);
             builder.put(SETTING_CREATION_DATE_STRING, creationDateTime.toString());
         }
         return builder.build();
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
index f8e809e9a55..b53e218f216 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexService;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.*;
 import org.elasticsearch.script.ScriptService;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
+import org.joda.time.DateTime;
+import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -325,7 +327,7 @@ public class MetaDataCreateIndexService extends AbstractComponent {
                     }
 
                     if (indexSettingsBuilder.get(SETTING_CREATION_DATE) == null) {
-                        indexSettingsBuilder.put(SETTING_CREATION_DATE, System.currentTimeMillis());
+                        indexSettingsBuilder.put(SETTING_CREATION_DATE, new DateTime(DateTimeZone.UTC).getMillis());
                     }
 
                     indexSettingsBuilder.put(SETTING_UUID, Strings.randomBase64UUID());
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/HumanReadableIndexSettingsTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/HumanReadableIndexSettingsTests.java
index 7aa4cc5a67d..5a5ee4d311e 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/HumanReadableIndexSettingsTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/HumanReadableIndexSettingsTests.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ElasticsearchTestCase;
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
+import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import static com.google.common.collect.Sets.newHashSet;
@@ -45,6 +46,6 @@ public class HumanReadableIndexSettingsTests extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
 
         assertEquals(versionCreated.toString(), humanSettings.get(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED_STRING, null));
         assertEquals(versionUpgraded.toString(), humanSettings.get(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_UPGRADED_STRING, null));
-        assertEquals(new DateTime(created).toString(), humanSettings.get(IndexMetaData.SETTING_CREATION_DATE_STRING, null));
+        assertEquals(new DateTime(created, DateTimeZone.UTC).toString(), humanSettings.get(IndexMetaData.SETTING_CREATION_DATE_STRING, null));
     }
 }