diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/Util.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/Util.java
index 8ca0ad71f6..9d70f4a2fc 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/Util.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/Util.java
@@ -402,18 +402,18 @@ public class Util {
         long seconds = duration / ONE_SECOND_MS;
 
         if (years > 0)
-            return makeTimeSpanString(years, "year", months, "month");
+            return makeTimeSpanString(years, Messages.Util_year(), months, Messages.Util_month());
         else if (months > 0)
-            return makeTimeSpanString(months, "month", days, "day");
+            return makeTimeSpanString(months, Messages.Util_month(), days, Messages.Util_day());
         else if (days > 0)
-            return makeTimeSpanString(days, "day", hours, "hour");
+            return makeTimeSpanString(days, Messages.Util_day(), hours, Messages.Util_hour());
         else if (hours > 0)
-            return makeTimeSpanString(hours, "hour", minutes, "minute");
+            return makeTimeSpanString(hours, Messages.Util_hour(), minutes, Messages.Util_minute());
         else if (minutes > 0)
-            return makeTimeSpanString(minutes, "minute", seconds, "second");
+            return makeTimeSpanString(minutes, Messages.Util_minute(), seconds, Messages.Util_second());
         else
             // Durations less than a minute are only expressed in seconds (no ms).
-            return combine(seconds, "second");
+            return combine(seconds, Messages.Util_second());
     }
 
 
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ public class Util {
     public static String combine(long n, String suffix) {
         String s = Long.toString(n)+' '+suffix;
         if(n!=1)
-            s += 's';
+            s += Messages.Util_timeSuffix();
         return s;
     }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages.properties b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages.properties
index 8bacb01aab..f510af0b0e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages.properties
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages.properties
@@ -3,12 +3,13 @@ FilePath.validateAntFileMask.whitespaceSeprator=\
 FilePath.validateAntFileMask.doesntMatchAndSuggest=\
   ''{0}'' doesn''t match anything, but ''{1}'' does. Perhaps that''s what you mean?
 
-Util.second={0} {0,choice,0#seconds|1#second|1<seconds}
-Util.minute={0} {0,choice,0#minutes|1#minute|1<minutes}
-Util.hour  ={0} {0,choice,0#hours|1#hour|1<hours}
-Util.day   ={0} {0,choice,0#days|1#day|1<days}
-Util.month ={0} {0,choice,0#months|1#month|1<months}
-Util.year  ={0} {0,choice,0#years|1#year|1<years}
+Util.second=second
+Util.minute=minute
+Util.hour  =hour
+Util.day   =day
+Util.month =month
+Util.year  =year
+Util.timeSuffix=s
 
 # ideally it should be "{0} ago" but this saves more space
 # another implication of this is that where we use this,
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages_ja.properties b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages_ja.properties
index a7aae19915..a0c7d4d3a4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages_ja.properties
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/Messages_ja.properties
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-Util.second={0}\u79d2
-Util.minute={0}\u5206
-Util.hour  ={0}\u6642\u9593
-Util.day   ={0}\u65e5
-Util.month ={0}\u6708
-Util.year  ={0}\u5e74
+Util.second=\u79d2
+Util.minute=\u5206
+Util.hour  =\u6642\u9593
+Util.day   =\u65e5
+Util.month =\u6708
+Util.year  =\u5e74
+Util.timeSuffix=
 
 Util.pastTime={0}\u524d
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/hudson/UtilTest.java b/core/src/test/java/hudson/UtilTest.java
index 52fac559e5..b8141a6360 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/hudson/UtilTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/hudson/UtilTest.java
@@ -37,17 +37,18 @@ public class UtilTest extends TestCase {
         // We're still working on the assumption that a month is 30 days, so there will
         // be 5 days at the end of the year that will be "12 months" but not "1 year".
         // First check 359 days.
-        assertEquals("11 months", Util.getTimeSpanString(31017600000L));
+        assertEquals("11 " + Messages.Util_month(), Util.getTimeSpanString(31017600000L));
         // And 362 days.
-        assertEquals("12 months", Util.getTimeSpanString(31276800000L));
+        assertEquals("12 " + Messages.Util_month(), Util.getTimeSpanString(31276800000L));
 
         // 11.25 years - Check that if the first unit has 2 or more digits, a second unit isn't used.
-        assertEquals("11 years", Util.getTimeSpanString(354780000000L));
+        assertEquals("11 " + Messages.Util_year(), Util.getTimeSpanString(354780000000L));
         // 9.25 years - Check that if the first unit has only 1 digit, a second unit is used.
-        assertEquals("9 years 3 months", Util.getTimeSpanString(291708000000L));
+        assertEquals("9 " + Messages.Util_year() + " 3 " + Messages.Util_month(), Util.getTimeSpanString(291708000000L));
         // 67 seconds
-        assertEquals("1 minute 7 seconds", Util.getTimeSpanString(67000L));
+        assertEquals("1 " + Messages.Util_minute() + " 7 " + Messages.Util_second(), Util.getTimeSpanString(67000L));
         // 17 seconds - Check that times less than a minute only use seconds.
-        assertEquals("17 seconds", Util.getTimeSpanString(17000L));
+        assertEquals("17 " + Messages.Util_second(), Util.getTimeSpanString(17000L));
     }
+
 }