diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/forms/widgets.py b/src/wuttaweb/forms/widgets.py
index 72c4d79..e7ba16d 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/forms/widgets.py
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/forms/widgets.py
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ class WuttaDateTimeWidget(DateTimeInputWidget):
             if not cstruct:
                 return ""
             dt = datetime.datetime.fromisoformat(cstruct)
-            return self.app.render_datetime(dt)
+            return self.app.render_datetime(dt, html=True)
 
         return super().serialize(field, cstruct, **kw)
 
diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/grids/base.py b/src/wuttaweb/grids/base.py
index 76149f6..63829a4 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/grids/base.py
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/grids/base.py
@@ -2041,7 +2041,7 @@ class Grid:  # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-attributes,too-many-public-meth
             grid.set_renderer('foo', 'datetime')
         """
         dt = getattr(obj, key)
-        return self.app.render_datetime(dt)
+        return self.app.render_datetime(dt, html=True)
 
     def render_enum(self, obj, key, value, enum=None):
         """
diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py b/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py
index f1920ed..030bacd 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ Base Logic for Master Views
 """
 # pylint: disable=too-many-lines
 
-import datetime
 import logging
 import os
 import threading
@@ -1280,7 +1279,6 @@ class MasterView(View):  # pylint: disable=too-many-public-methods
 
         # issued_at
         g.set_label("issued_at", "Changed")
-        g.set_renderer("issued_at", self.render_issued_at)
         g.set_link("issued_at")
         g.set_sort_defaults("issued_at", "desc")
 
@@ -1390,7 +1388,7 @@ class MasterView(View):  # pylint: disable=too-many-public-methods
                 "instance_title": instance_title,
                 "instance_url": self.get_action_url("versions", instance),
                 "transaction": txn,
-                "changed": self.render_issued_at(txn, None, None),
+                "changed": self.app.render_datetime(txn.issued_at, html=True),
                 "version_diffs": version_diffs,
                 "show_prev_next": True,
                 "prev_url": prev_url,
@@ -1421,14 +1419,6 @@ class MasterView(View):  # pylint: disable=too-many-public-methods
             .all()
         )
 
-    def render_issued_at(  # pylint: disable=missing-function-docstring,unused-argument
-        self, txn, key, value
-    ):
-        dt = txn.issued_at
-        dt = dt.replace(tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
-        dt = dt.astimezone(None)
-        return self.app.render_datetime(dt)
-
     ##############################
     # autocomplete methods
     ##############################
@@ -2025,22 +2015,17 @@ class MasterView(View):  # pylint: disable=too-many-public-methods
         fmt = f"${{:0,.{scale}f}}"
         return fmt.format(value)
 
-    def grid_render_datetime(self, record, key, value, fmt=None):
-        """
-        Custom grid value renderer for
-        :class:`~python:datetime.datetime` fields.
+    def grid_render_datetime(  # pylint: disable=empty-docstring
+        self, record, key, value, fmt=None
+    ):
+        """ """
+        warnings.warn(
+            "MasterView.grid_render_datetime() is deprecated; "
+            "please use app.render_datetime() directly instead",
+            DeprecationWarning,
+            stacklevel=2,
+        )
 
-        :param fmt: Optional format string to use instead of the
-           default: ``'%Y-%m-%d %I:%M:%S %p'``
-
-        To use this feature for your grid::
-
-           grid.set_renderer('my_datetime_field', self.grid_render_datetime)
-
-           # you can also override format
-           grid.set_renderer('my_datetime_field', self.grid_render_datetime,
-                             fmt='%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
-        """
         # nb. get new value since the one provided will just be a
         # (json-safe) *string* if the original type was datetime
         value = record[key]
diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/views/upgrades.py b/src/wuttaweb/views/upgrades.py
index a4868b2..34b2ed8 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/views/upgrades.py
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/views/upgrades.py
@@ -81,9 +81,6 @@ class UpgradeView(MasterView):  # pylint: disable=abstract-method
         # description
         g.set_link("description")
 
-        # created
-        g.set_renderer("created", self.grid_render_datetime)
-
         # created_by
         g.set_link("created_by")
         Creator = orm.aliased(model.User)  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
@@ -96,9 +93,6 @@ class UpgradeView(MasterView):  # pylint: disable=abstract-method
         # status
         g.set_renderer("status", self.grid_render_enum, enum=enum.UpgradeStatus)
 
-        # executed
-        g.set_renderer("executed", self.grid_render_datetime)
-
         # executed_by
         g.set_link("executed_by")
         Executor = orm.aliased(model.User)  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
diff --git a/tests/forms/test_widgets.py b/tests/forms/test_widgets.py
index 03799bd..818c38a 100644
--- a/tests/forms/test_widgets.py
+++ b/tests/forms/test_widgets.py
@@ -207,7 +207,8 @@ class TestWuttaDateTimeWidget(WebTestCase):
             # input data (from schema type) is always "local, zone-aware, isoformat"
             dt = datetime.datetime(2024, 12, 12, 13, 49, tzinfo=tzlocal)
             result = widget.serialize(field, dt.isoformat())
-            self.assertEqual(result, "2024-12-12 13:49-0500")
+            self.assertTrue(result.startswith('<span title="'))
+            self.assertIn("2024-12-12 13:49-0500", result)
 
 
 class TestWuttaMoneyInputWidget(WebTestCase):
diff --git a/tests/grids/test_base.py b/tests/grids/test_base.py
index 8c372ba..5174335 100644
--- a/tests/grids/test_base.py
+++ b/tests/grids/test_base.py
@@ -1681,8 +1681,8 @@ class TestGrid(WebTestCase):
             dt = datetime.datetime(2024, 12, 12, 13, 44)
             obj = MagicMock(dt=dt)
             result = grid.render_datetime(obj, "dt", str(dt))
-            self.assertEqual(result, "2024-12-12 05:44-0800")
-            self.assertNotEqual(result, str(dt))
+            self.assertTrue(result.startswith('<span title="'))
+            self.assertIn("2024-12-12 05:44-0800", result)
 
     def test_render_vue_tag(self):
         grid = self.make_grid(columns=["foo", "bar"])