diff --git a/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh b/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh
index 550a758ec6..2883b2419a 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh
@@ -204,13 +204,15 @@ for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
 	if [ "$HAVEXMLSTATS" ];
 	then
 		URL=http://10.53.0.2:${EXTRAPORT1}/xml/v3/server
+		filter_str='s#<current-time>.*</current-time>##g'
 	else
 		URL=http://10.53.0.2:${EXTRAPORT1}/json/v1/server
+		filter_str='s#"current-time.*",##g'
 	fi
 	$CURL -D regular.headers $URL 2>/dev/null | \
-		sed -e "s#<current-time>.*</current-time>##g" > regular.out
+		sed -e "$filter_str" > regular.out
 	$CURL -D compressed.headers --compressed $URL 2>/dev/null | \
-		sed -e "s#<current-time>.*</current-time>##g" > compressed.out
+		sed -e "$filter_str" > compressed.out
 	diff regular.out compressed.out >/dev/null || ret=1
 	if [ $ret != 0 ]; then
 		echo_i "failed on try $i, probably a timing issue, trying again"