diff --git a/branch_release b/branch_release
index f321eef027..a1d332a87a 100755
--- a/branch_release
+++ b/branch_release
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ FLAGS "$@" || exit 1
 eval set -- "${FLAGS_ARGV}"
 switch_to_strict_mode
 
-# Make sure we pad with 0s for a consistent look
-FLAGS_build=$(printf "%04d" "${FLAGS_build}")
 BRANCH_NAME="build-${FLAGS_build}"
 TAG_NAME="v${FLAGS_build}.${FLAGS_branch}.${FLAGS_patch}"
 
diff --git a/common.sh b/common.sh
index 010334b33b..e945b6ec10 100644
--- a/common.sh
+++ b/common.sh
@@ -311,8 +311,9 @@ fi
 source "$COREOS_VERSION_FILE" || die "Cannot source version.txt"
 
 # Official builds must set COREOS_OFFICIAL=1 to use an official version.
+# Unofficial builds always appended the date/time as a build identifier.
 if [ ${COREOS_OFFICIAL:-0} -ne 1 ]; then
-  COREOS_PATCH=$(date +%Y_%m_%d_%H%M)
+  COREOS_PATCH="${COREOS_PATCH}+$(date +%Y-%m-%d-%H%M)"
 fi
 
 # Full version string.
@@ -322,7 +323,7 @@ COREOS_VERSION_STRING="${COREOS_BUILD}.${COREOS_BRANCH}.${COREOS_PATCH}"
 # scripts to provide a reasonable default value. The value is the number
 # of days since COREOS_EPOCH, Mon Jul  1 00:00:00 UTC 2013
 readonly COREOS_EPOCH=1372636800
-TODAYS_VERSION=$(printf "%04d" $(( (`date +%s` - ${COREOS_EPOCH}) / 86400 )) )
+TODAYS_VERSION=$(( (`date +%s` - ${COREOS_EPOCH}) / 86400 ))
 
 # Load developer's custom settings.  Default location is in scripts dir,
 # since that's available both inside and outside the chroot.  By convention,