diff --git a/backend/src/config/index.test.ts b/backend/src/config/index.test.ts
index 3c4c7865e..1dabf9292 100644
--- a/backend/src/config/index.test.ts
+++ b/backend/src/config/index.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import CONFIG from './index'
 describe('config/index', () => {
   describe('decay start block', () => {
     it('has the correct date set', () => {
-      expect(CONFIG.DECAY_START_TIME).toEqual(new Date('2021-05-13 17:46:31'))
+      expect(CONFIG.DECAY_START_TIME).toEqual(new Date('2021-05-13 17:46:31-0000'))
     })
   })
 })
diff --git a/backend/src/config/index.ts b/backend/src/config/index.ts
index 559b8e9c5..28318ed6b 100644
--- a/backend/src/config/index.ts
+++ b/backend/src/config/index.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Decimal.set({
 
 const constants = {
   DB_VERSION: '0036-unique_previous_in_transactions',
-  DECAY_START_TIME: new Date('2021-05-13 17:46:31'), // GMT+0
+  DECAY_START_TIME: new Date('2021-05-13 17:46:31-0000'), // GMT+0
   LOG4JS_CONFIG: 'log4js-config.json',
   // default log level on production should be info
   LOG_LEVEL: process.env.LOG_LEVEL || 'info',