diff --git a/docs/querying/api.md b/docs/querying/api.md
index 415ec1d30..f885b110b 100644
--- a/docs/querying/api.md
+++ b/docs/querying/api.md
@@ -400,12 +400,12 @@ $ curl -XPOST http://localhost:9090/api/v1/admin/tsdb/snapshot
 {
   "status": "success",
   "data": {
-    "name": "2017-11-30T15:31:59Z-2366f0a55106d6e1"
+    "name": "20171210T211224Z-2be650b6d019eb54"
   }
 }
 ```
 
-The snapshot now exists at `<data-dir>/snapshots/2017-11-30T15:31:59Z-2366f0a55106d6e1`
+The snapshot now exists at `<data-dir>/snapshots/20171210T211224Z-2be650b6d019eb54`
 
 *New in v2.1*
 
diff --git a/web/api/v1/api.go b/web/api/v1/api.go
index 257ebcd29..e18137d06 100644
--- a/web/api/v1/api.go
+++ b/web/api/v1/api.go
@@ -637,8 +637,10 @@ func (api *API) snapshot(r *http.Request) (interface{}, *apiError) {
 
 	var (
 		snapdir = filepath.Join(db.Dir(), "snapshots")
-		name    = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%x", time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339), rand.Int())
-		dir     = filepath.Join(snapdir, name)
+		name    = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%x",
+			time.Now().UTC().Format("20060102T150405Z0700"),
+			rand.Int())
+		dir = filepath.Join(snapdir, name)
 	)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0777); err != nil {
 		return nil, &apiError{errorInternal, fmt.Errorf("create snapshot directory: %s", err)}
diff --git a/web/api/v2/api.go b/web/api/v2/api.go
index 41c641de9..79c73831b 100644
--- a/web/api/v2/api.go
+++ b/web/api/v2/api.go
@@ -174,8 +174,10 @@ func (s *Admin) TSDBSnapshot(_ old_ctx.Context, _ *pb.TSDBSnapshotRequest) (*pb.
 	}
 	var (
 		snapdir = filepath.Join(db.Dir(), "snapshots")
-		name    = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%x", time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339), rand.Int())
-		dir     = filepath.Join(snapdir, name)
+		name    = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%x",
+			time.Now().UTC().Format("20060102T150405Z0700"),
+			rand.Int())
+		dir = filepath.Join(snapdir, name)
 	)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0777); err != nil {
 		return nil, status.Errorf(codes.Internal, "created snapshot directory: %s", err)