diff --git a/src/DateUtils.js b/src/DateUtils.js
index 38a6a3a36f..91df1e46d5 100644
--- a/src/DateUtils.js
+++ b/src/DateUtils.js
@@ -100,3 +100,17 @@ export function formatTime(date, showTwelveHour=false) {
     }
     return pad(date.getHours()) + ':' + pad(date.getMinutes());
 }
+
+const MILLIS_IN_DAY = 86400000;
+export function wantsDateSeparator(prevEventDate, nextEventDate) {
+    if (!nextEventDate || !prevEventDate) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    // Return early for events that are > 24h apart
+    if (Math.abs(prevEventDate.getTime() - nextEventDate.getTime()) > MILLIS_IN_DAY) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    // Compare weekdays
+    return prevEventDate.getDay() !== nextEventDate.getDay();
+}
diff --git a/src/components/structures/MessagePanel.js b/src/components/structures/MessagePanel.js
index 84441e1317..5523fc27a0 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/MessagePanel.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/MessagePanel.js
@@ -19,13 +19,12 @@ import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
 import shouldHideEvent from '../../shouldHideEvent';
+import {wantsDateSeparator} from '../../DateUtils';
 import dis from "../../dispatcher";
 import sdk from '../../index';
 
 import MatrixClientPeg from '../../MatrixClientPeg';
 
-const MILLIS_IN_DAY = 86400000;
-
 /* (almost) stateless UI component which builds the event tiles in the room timeline.
  */
 module.exports = React.createClass({
@@ -523,17 +522,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
             // here.
             return !this.props.suppressFirstDateSeparator;
         }
-        const prevEventDate = prevEvent.getDate();
-        if (!nextEventDate || !prevEventDate) {
-            return false;
-        }
-        // Return early for events that are > 24h apart
-        if (Math.abs(prevEvent.getTs() - nextEventDate.getTime()) > MILLIS_IN_DAY) {
-            return true;
-        }
-
-        // Compare weekdays
-        return prevEventDate.getDay() !== nextEventDate.getDay();
+        return wantsDateSeparator(prevEvent.getDate(), nextEventDate);
     },
 
     // get a list of read receipts that should be shown next to this event
diff --git a/src/components/views/elements/Quote.js b/src/components/views/elements/Quote.js
index e5b9e56949..bceba0f536 100644
--- a/src/components/views/elements/Quote.js
+++ b/src/components/views/elements/Quote.js
@@ -18,28 +18,13 @@ import sdk from '../../../index';
 import {_t} from '../../../languageHandler';
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
 import MatrixClientPeg from '../../../MatrixClientPeg';
+import {wantsDateSeparator} from '../../../DateUtils';
 import {MatrixEvent} from 'matrix-js-sdk';
 
 // For URLs of matrix.to links in the timeline which have been reformatted by
 // HttpUtils transformTags to relative links. This excludes event URLs (with `[^\/]*`)
 const REGEX_LOCAL_MATRIXTO = /^#\/room\/(([\#\!])[^\/]*)\/(\$[^\/]*)$/;
 
-const MILLIS_IN_DAY = 86400000;
-function wantsDateSeparator(parentEvent, event) {
-    const parentEventDate = parentEvent.getDate();
-    const eventDate = event.getDate();
-    if (!eventDate || !parentEventDate) {
-        return false;
-    }
-    // Return early for events that are > 24h apart
-    if (Math.abs(parentEvent.getTs() - eventDate.getTime()) > MILLIS_IN_DAY) {
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    // Compare weekdays
-    return parentEventDate.getDay() !== eventDate.getDay();
-}
-
 export default class Quote extends React.Component {
     static isMessageUrl(url) {
         return !!REGEX_LOCAL_MATRIXTO.exec(url);
@@ -129,9 +114,11 @@ export default class Quote extends React.Component {
             if (this.state.show) {
                 const EventTile = sdk.getComponent('views.rooms.EventTile');
                 let dateSep = null;
-                if (wantsDateSeparator(this.props.parentEv, this.state.event)) {
+
+                const evDate = ev.getDate();
+                if (wantsDateSeparator(this.props.parentEv.getDate(), evDate)) {
                     const DateSeparator = sdk.getComponent('messages.DateSeparator');
-                    dateSep = <a href={this.props.url}><DateSeparator ts={this.state.event.getDate()} /></a>;
+                    dateSep = <a href={this.props.url}><DateSeparator ts={evDate} /></a>;
                 }
 
                 return <blockquote className="mx_Quote">