diff --git a/types/utils.go b/types/utils.go
index fa2999a18..10ec85472 100644
--- a/types/utils.go
+++ b/types/utils.go
@@ -36,15 +36,22 @@ func MustSortJSON(toSortJSON []byte) []byte {
 	return js
 }
 
+// Slight modification of the RFC3339Nano but it right pads all zeros and drops the time zone info
+const SortableTimeFormat = "2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000000"
+
 // Formats a time.Time into a []byte that can be sorted
 func FormatTimeBytes(t time.Time) []byte {
-	return []byte(t.UTC().Round(0).Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000000"))
+	return []byte(t.UTC().Round(0).Format(SortableTimeFormat))
 }
 
 // Parses a []byte encoded using FormatTimeKey back into a time.Time
 func ParseTimeBytes(bz []byte) (time.Time, error) {
 	str := string(bz)
-	return time.Parse("2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000000", str)
+	t, err := time.Parse(SortableTimeFormat, str)
+	if err != nil {
+		return t, err
+	}
+	return t.UTC().Round(0), nil
 }
 
 // DefaultChainID returns the chain ID from the genesis file if present. An
diff --git a/types/utils_test.go b/types/utils_test.go
index 05bc622e7..dbdd08c0a 100644
--- a/types/utils_test.go
+++ b/types/utils_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package types
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -43,3 +44,23 @@ func TestSortJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Equal(t, string(got), tc.want)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestTimeFormatAndParse(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		RFC3339NanoStr     string
+		SDKSortableTimeStr string
+		Equal              bool
+	}{
+		{"2009-11-10T23:00:00Z", "2009-11-10T23:00:00.000000000", true},
+		{"2011-01-10T23:10:05.758230235Z", "2011-01-10T23:10:05.758230235", true},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		timeFromRFC, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, tc.RFC3339NanoStr)
+		require.Nil(t, err)
+		timeFromSDKFormat, err := time.Parse(SortableTimeFormat, tc.SDKSortableTimeStr)
+		require.Nil(t, err)
+
+		require.True(t, timeFromRFC.Equal(timeFromSDKFormat))
+		require.Equal(t, timeFromRFC.Format(SortableTimeFormat), tc.SDKSortableTimeStr)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/x/stake/keeper/key.go b/x/stake/keeper/key.go
index 6e6ff54ff..d5f2fc9d9 100644
--- a/x/stake/keeper/key.go
+++ b/x/stake/keeper/key.go
@@ -34,17 +34,6 @@ var (
 
 const maxDigitsForAccount = 12 // ~220,000,000 atoms created at launch
 
-// Formats a time.Time into a []byte that can be sorted
-func FormatTimeKey(t time.Time) []byte {
-	return []byte(t.UTC().Round(0).Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000000"))
-}
-
-// Parses a []byte encoded using FormatTimeKey back into a time.Time
-func ParseTimeKey(bz []byte) (time.Time, error) {
-	str := string(bz)
-	return time.Parse("2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000000", str)
-}
-
 // gets the key for the validator with address
 // VALUE: stake/types.Validator
 func GetValidatorKey(operatorAddr sdk.ValAddress) []byte {