diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.test.ts
index c64b6e4b9298..e6ad484a8c8e 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.test.ts
@@ -17,11 +17,13 @@ jest.mock('../lib/alerts/fetch_clusters', () => ({
   fetchClusters: jest.fn(),
 }));
 jest.mock('moment', () => {
-  return function () {
+  const moment = function () {
     return {
       format: () => 'THE_DATE',
     };
   };
+  moment.duration = () => ({ humanize: () => 'HUMANIZED_DURATION' });
+  return moment;
 });
 
 jest.mock('../static_globals', () => ({
@@ -170,11 +172,11 @@ describe('LicenseExpirationAlert', () => {
         action: '[Please update your license.](elasticsearch/nodes)',
         actionPlain: 'Please update your license.',
         internalFullMessage:
-          'License expiration alert is firing for testCluster. Your license expires in THE_DATE. [Please update your license.](elasticsearch/nodes)',
+          'License expiration alert is firing for testCluster. Your license expires in HUMANIZED_DURATION. [Please update your license.](elasticsearch/nodes)',
         internalShortMessage:
-          'License expiration alert is firing for testCluster. Your license expires in THE_DATE. Please update your license.',
+          'License expiration alert is firing for testCluster. Your license expires in HUMANIZED_DURATION. Please update your license.',
         clusterName,
-        expiredDate: 'THE_DATE',
+        expiredDate: 'HUMANIZED_DURATION',
         state: 'firing',
       });
     });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.ts b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.ts
index 9dacba1dfe0e..f15b015ba84b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/monitoring/server/alerts/license_expiration_alert.ts
@@ -17,11 +17,7 @@ import {
   LegacyAlert,
 } from '../../common/types/alerts';
 import { AlertExecutorOptions, AlertInstance } from '../../../alerts/server';
-import {
-  ALERT_LICENSE_EXPIRATION,
-  FORMAT_DURATION_TEMPLATE_SHORT,
-  LEGACY_ALERT_DETAILS,
-} from '../../common/constants';
+import { ALERT_LICENSE_EXPIRATION, LEGACY_ALERT_DETAILS } from '../../common/constants';
 import { AlertMessageTokenType } from '../../common/enums';
 import { AlertingDefaults } from './alert_helpers';
 import { SanitizedAlert } from '../../../alerts/common';
@@ -113,12 +109,13 @@ export class LicenseExpirationAlert extends BaseAlert {
   ) {
     const legacyAlert = item.meta as LegacyAlert;
     const $expiry = moment(legacyAlert.metadata.time);
+    const $duration = moment.duration(+new Date() - $expiry.valueOf());
     if (alertState.ui.isFiring) {
       const actionText = i18n.translate('xpack.monitoring.alerts.licenseExpiration.action', {
         defaultMessage: 'Please update your license.',
       });
       const action = `[${actionText}](elasticsearch/nodes)`;
-      const expiredDate = $expiry.format(FORMAT_DURATION_TEMPLATE_SHORT).trim();
+      const expiredDate = $duration.humanize();
       instance.scheduleActions('default', {
         internalShortMessage: i18n.translate(
           'xpack.monitoring.alerts.licenseExpiration.firing.internalShortMessage',