diff --git a/js/ui/dateMenu.js b/js/ui/dateMenu.js
index 79b1ce3dd..60f5bdc45 100644
--- a/js/ui/dateMenu.js
+++ b/js/ui/dateMenu.js
@@ -573,11 +573,6 @@ var DateMenuButton = new Lang.Class({
         // https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=678507
         System.clearDateCaches();
 
-        // To reduce the number of times that Shell opens /etc/localtime on
-        // the main thread to parse timezone info, we cache the result. That
-        // needs to be cleared when we change timezones.
-        Shell.util_clear_timezone_cache();
-
         this._calendar.updateTimeZone();
     },
 
diff --git a/js/ui/environment.js b/js/ui/environment.js
index a2a15a599..719680f61 100644
--- a/js/ui/environment.js
+++ b/js/ui/environment.js
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ function init() {
 
     // Work around https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=508783
     Date.prototype.toLocaleFormat = function(format) {
-        return Shell.util_format_now(format);
+        return Shell.util_format_date(format, this.getTime());
     };
 
     let slowdownEnv = GLib.getenv('GNOME_SHELL_SLOWDOWN_FACTOR');
diff --git a/src/shell-util.c b/src/shell-util.c
index 76526126f..70b8c0611 100644
--- a/src/shell-util.c
+++ b/src/shell-util.c
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@
 #include <langinfo.h>
 #endif
 
-static GTimeZone *local_tz;
-
 static void
 stop_pick (ClutterActor       *actor,
            const ClutterColor *color)
@@ -156,30 +154,6 @@ shell_util_format_date (const char *format,
   return result;
 }
 
-char *
-shell_util_format_now (const char *format)
-{
-  GDateTime *datetime;
-  char *ret;
-
-  if (local_tz == NULL)
-    local_tz = g_time_zone_new_local ();
-
-  datetime = g_date_time_new_now (local_tz);
-  if (!datetime)
-    return g_strdup ("");
-
-  ret = g_date_time_format (datetime, format);
-  g_date_time_unref (datetime);
-  return ret;
-}
-
-void
-shell_util_clear_timezone_cache (void)
-{
-  g_clear_pointer (&local_tz, g_time_zone_unref);
-}
-
 /**
  * shell_util_get_week_start:
  *
diff --git a/src/shell-util.h b/src/shell-util.h
index 8b31c9eb7..2218594c1 100644
--- a/src/shell-util.h
+++ b/src/shell-util.h
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@ int      shell_util_get_week_start             (void);
 
 char    *shell_util_format_date                (const char       *format,
                                                 gint64            time_ms);
-char    *shell_util_format_now                 (const char       *format);
-void     shell_util_clear_timezone_cache       (void);
 const char *shell_util_translate_time_string   (const char *str);
 
 char    *shell_util_regex_escape               (const char *str);