diff --git a/evennia/contrib/game_systems/mail/mail.py b/evennia/contrib/game_systems/mail/mail.py
index 6127d1af9d..1315a4e764 100644
--- a/evennia/contrib/game_systems/mail/mail.py
+++ b/evennia/contrib/game_systems/mail/mail.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ import re
 
 from evennia import AccountDB, ObjectDB, default_cmds
 from evennia.comms.models import Msg
-from evennia.utils import create, datetime_format, evtable, inherits_from, make_iter
+from evennia.utils import create, datetime_format, evtable, inherits_from, make_iter, utc_to_local
 
 _HEAD_CHAR = "|015-|n"
 _SUB_HEAD_CHAR = "-"
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ class CmdMail(default_cmds.MuxAccountCommand):
 
         subject = ""
         body = ""
+        time_zone = self.account.options.get("timezone")
 
         if self.switches or self.args:
             if "delete" in self.switches or "del" in self.switches:
@@ -296,9 +297,10 @@ class CmdMail(default_cmds.MuxAccountCommand):
                         )
                         # note that we cannot use %-d format here since Windows does not support it
                         day = message.db_date_created.day
+                        date_created = utc_to_local(message.db_date_created, time_zone)
                         messageForm.append(
                             "|wSent:|n %s"
-                            % message.db_date_created.strftime(f"%b {day}, %Y - %H:%M:%S")
+                            % date_created.strftime(f"%b {day}, %Y - %H:%M:%S")
                         )
                         messageForm.append("|wSubject:|n %s" % message.header)
                         messageForm.append(_SUB_HEAD_CHAR * _WIDTH)
@@ -330,11 +332,12 @@ class CmdMail(default_cmds.MuxAccountCommand):
                     if status == "NEW":
                         status = "|gNEW|n"
 
+                    date_created = utc_to_local(message.db_date_created, time_zone)
                     table.add_row(
                         index,
                         message.senders[0].get_display_name(self.caller),
                         message.header,
-                        datetime_format(message.db_date_created),
+                        datetime_format(date_created, time_zone),
                         status,
                     )
                     index += 1
diff --git a/evennia/utils/utils.py b/evennia/utils/utils.py
index 8a7daebffa..5f1478d420 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/utils.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/utils.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import textwrap
 import threading
 import traceback
 import types
+import pytz
 from ast import literal_eval
 from collections import OrderedDict, defaultdict
 from inspect import getmembers, getmodule, getmro, ismodule, trace
@@ -682,13 +683,16 @@ def time_format(seconds, style=0):
     return retval.strip()
 
 
-def datetime_format(dtobj):
+def datetime_format(dtobj, time_zone=None):
     """
     Pretty-prints the time since a given time.
 
     Args:
         dtobj (datetime): An datetime object, e.g. from Django's
             `DateTimeField`.
+        time_zone (tzfile): If provided, the current date/time is
+             adjusted to the given time zone for the elapsed time
+             calculations. This should be used if `dtobj` is not UTC.
 
     Returns:
         deltatime (str): A string describing how long ago `dtobj`
@@ -697,6 +701,8 @@ def datetime_format(dtobj):
     """
 
     now = timezone.now()
+    if time_zone:
+        now = utc_to_local(now, time_zone)
 
     if dtobj.year < now.year:
         # another year (Apr 5, 2019)
@@ -3124,3 +3130,23 @@ def value_is_integer(value):
         return False
 
     return True
+
+
+def utc_to_local(utc_time, time_zone):
+    """
+    Convert a date/time from UTC to a local date/time based on `timezone`.
+
+    Args:
+        utc_time (datetime): The time to convert.
+        time_zone (tzfile): The time zone to convert to.
+
+    Returns
+        result (datetime): The converted time.
+    """
+    if not time_zone:
+        return utc_time
+    # don't convert a time that's not UTC
+    if utc_time.utcoffset().total_seconds() != 0:
+        return utc_time
+
+    return utc_time.replace(tzinfo=pytz.utc).astimezone(time_zone)