diff --git a/metropolis/node/core/curator/BUILD.bazel b/metropolis/node/core/curator/BUILD.bazel
index 57ed4ec..972beca 100644
--- a/metropolis/node/core/curator/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/metropolis/node/core/curator/BUILD.bazel
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
         "@org_golang_google_grpc//status",
         "@org_golang_google_protobuf//proto",
         "@org_golang_google_protobuf//types/known/durationpb",
+        "@org_golang_google_protobuf//types/known/timestamppb",
     ],
 )
 
diff --git a/metropolis/node/core/curator/impl_leader_curator.go b/metropolis/node/core/curator/impl_leader_curator.go
index 792c951..9978c7e 100644
--- a/metropolis/node/core/curator/impl_leader_curator.go
+++ b/metropolis/node/core/curator/impl_leader_curator.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
+	tpb "google.golang.org/protobuf/types/known/timestamppb"
 
 	common "source.monogon.dev/metropolis/node"
 	ipb "source.monogon.dev/metropolis/node/core/curator/proto/api"
@@ -249,7 +250,7 @@
 	}
 	// ... update its' status ...
 	node.status = req.Status
-	node.status.Timestamp = time.Now().UnixNano()
+	node.status.Timestamp = tpb.Now()
 	// ... and save it to etcd.
 	if err := nodeSave(ctx, l.leadership, node); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/metropolis/proto/common/BUILD.bazel b/metropolis/proto/common/BUILD.bazel
index 45dafd8..21ca6a5 100644
--- a/metropolis/proto/common/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/metropolis/proto/common/BUILD.bazel
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
     name = "common_proto",
     srcs = ["common.proto"],
     visibility = ["//metropolis:__subpackages__"],
+    deps = [
+        "@com_google_protobuf//:timestamp_proto",
+    ],
 )
 
 go_proto_library(
diff --git a/metropolis/proto/common/common.proto b/metropolis/proto/common/common.proto
index c25736b..ca4bfea 100644
--- a/metropolis/proto/common/common.proto
+++ b/metropolis/proto/common/common.proto
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 package metropolis.proto.common;
 option go_package = "source.monogon.dev/metropolis/proto/common";
 
+import "google/protobuf/timestamp.proto";
+
 // NodeRoles are the possible roles that a Metropolis Node should run within the
 // cluster. These are configured by the cluster and can be retrieved through the
 // Curator.
@@ -141,7 +143,7 @@
     RunningCurator running_curator = 3;
     // timestamp is an epoch number associated with the last status update.
     // It's set with a nanosecond granularity.
-    int64 timestamp = 2;
+    google.protobuf.Timestamp timestamp = 2;
 }
 
 // The Cluster Directory is information about the network addressing of nodes
diff --git a/metropolis/test/launch/cluster/cluster.go b/metropolis/test/launch/cluster/cluster.go
index 0c85fc3..b3049e3 100644
--- a/metropolis/test/launch/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/metropolis/test/launch/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -912,7 +912,7 @@
 		if cs.Status == nil {
 			continue
 		}
-		if cs.Status.Timestamp > is.Status.Timestamp {
+		if cs.Status.Timestamp.AsTime().Sub(is.Status.Timestamp.AsTime()) > 0 {
 			break
 		}
 		time.Sleep(time.Second)