diff --git a/selfservice/flow/registration/error.go b/selfservice/flow/registration/error.go
index bbf4d1e3b76c..f14163180cf1 100644
--- a/selfservice/flow/registration/error.go
+++ b/selfservice/flow/registration/error.go
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ type (
 	}
 )
 
-func NewFlowExpiredError(ago time.Duration) *FlowExpiredError {
+func NewFlowExpiredError(at time.Time) *FlowExpiredError {
+	ago := time.Since(at)
 	return &FlowExpiredError{
 		ago: ago,
 		DefaultError: herodot.ErrBadRequest.
diff --git a/selfservice/flow/registration/error_test.go b/selfservice/flow/registration/error_test.go
index 441cf49f3da7..d235ff3141ad 100644
--- a/selfservice/flow/registration/error_test.go
+++ b/selfservice/flow/registration/error_test.go
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ func TestHandleError(t *testing.T) {
 		return sse.Payload.Errors, nil
 	}
 
+	anHourAgo := time.Now().Add(-time.Hour)
+
 	t.Run("case=error with nil flow defaults to error ui redirect", func(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Cleanup(reset)
 
@@ -118,7 +120,7 @@ func TestHandleError(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Cleanup(reset)
 
 			registrationFlow = newFlow(t, time.Minute, flow.TypeAPI)
-			flowError = registration.NewFlowExpiredError(time.Hour)
+			flowError = registration.NewFlowExpiredError(anHourAgo)
 			ct = identity.CredentialsTypePassword
 
 			res, err := ts.Client().Do(testhelpers.NewHTTPGetJSONRequest(t, ts.URL+"/error"))
@@ -203,7 +205,7 @@ func TestHandleError(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Cleanup(reset)
 
 			registrationFlow = &registration.Flow{Type: flow.TypeBrowser}
-			flowError = registration.NewFlowExpiredError(time.Hour)
+			flowError = registration.NewFlowExpiredError(anHourAgo)
 			ct = identity.CredentialsTypePassword
 
 			lf, _ := expectRegistrationUI(t)
diff --git a/selfservice/flow/registration/flow.go b/selfservice/flow/registration/flow.go
index 306c964d554d..7598567e4312 100644
--- a/selfservice/flow/registration/flow.go
+++ b/selfservice/flow/registration/flow.go
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ func (f *Flow) GetID() uuid.UUID {
 
 func (f *Flow) Valid() error {
 	if f.ExpiresAt.Before(time.Now()) {
-		return errors.WithStack(NewFlowExpiredError(time.Since(f.ExpiresAt)))
+		return errors.WithStack(NewFlowExpiredError(f.ExpiresAt))
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/selfservice/flow/registration/handler.go b/selfservice/flow/registration/handler.go
index 5c5b6face05f..0e8f26bc4386 100644
--- a/selfservice/flow/registration/handler.go
+++ b/selfservice/flow/registration/handler.go
@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter"
-	"github.com/ory/x/urlx"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 
+	"github.com/ory/x/urlx"
+
 	"github.com/ory/kratos/driver/configuration"
 	"github.com/ory/kratos/selfservice/errorx"
 	"github.com/ory/kratos/selfservice/flow"