diff --git a/java/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlow.java b/java/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlow.java
index 46a68c3d5..623c04f4e 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlow.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlow.java
@@ -22,6 +22,6 @@ import google.registry.model.eppoutput.Greeting;
 public class HelloFlow extends Flow {
   @Override
   public EppOutput run() {
-    return EppOutput.create(new Greeting());
+    return EppOutput.create(Greeting.create(now));
   }
 }
diff --git a/java/google/registry/model/eppoutput/Greeting.java b/java/google/registry/model/eppoutput/Greeting.java
index d32d43ccf..6cdcdbbe9 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/model/eppoutput/Greeting.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/model/eppoutput/Greeting.java
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 
 package google.registry.model.eppoutput;
 
-import static org.joda.time.DateTimeZone.UTC;
-
 import google.registry.model.ImmutableObject;
 import google.registry.model.eppcommon.PresenceMarker;
 import google.registry.model.eppcommon.ProtocolDefinition;
@@ -37,7 +35,7 @@ import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElementWrapper;
 public class Greeting extends ImmutableObject implements ResponseOrGreeting {
 
   String svID = "Charleston Road Registry";
-  DateTime svDate = DateTime.now(UTC);
+  DateTime svDate;
 
   /** This is never changed, so it might as well be static for efficiency. */
   @XmlElement
@@ -47,6 +45,12 @@ public class Greeting extends ImmutableObject implements ResponseOrGreeting {
   @XmlElement
   static Dcp dcp = new Dcp();
 
+  public static Greeting create(DateTime svDate) {
+    Greeting instance = new Greeting();
+    instance.svDate = svDate;
+    return instance;
+  }
+
   static class SvcMenu extends ImmutableObject {
     String version = ProtocolDefinition.VERSION;
     String lang = ProtocolDefinition.LANGUAGE;
diff --git a/javatests/google/registry/flows/EppServletXmlLoginTestCase.java b/javatests/google/registry/flows/EppServletXmlLoginTestCase.java
index 6ab1a5c69..65dc8960f 100644
--- a/javatests/google/registry/flows/EppServletXmlLoginTestCase.java
+++ b/javatests/google/registry/flows/EppServletXmlLoginTestCase.java
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ package google.registry.flows;
 
 import static google.registry.testing.DatastoreHelper.createTld;
 import static google.registry.util.DateTimeUtils.START_OF_TIME;
-import static google.registry.util.ResourceUtils.readResourceUtf8;
-import static google.registry.xml.XmlTestUtils.assertXmlEquals;
 import static org.joda.time.DateTimeZone.UTC;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
@@ -27,6 +25,7 @@ import google.registry.model.registry.Registry.TldState;
 import google.registry.util.DateTimeUtils;
 
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
+import org.joda.time.format.ISODateTimeFormat;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;
@@ -41,10 +40,13 @@ public abstract class EppServletXmlLoginTestCase<S extends HttpServlet> extends
 
   @Test
   public void testHello() throws Exception {
-    assertXmlEquals(
-        readResourceUtf8(getClass(), "testdata/greeting_crr.xml"),
-        expectXmlCommand(readResourceUtf8(getClass(), "testdata/hello.xml"), DateTime.now(UTC)),
-        "epp.greeting.svDate");
+    DateTime now = DateTime.now(UTC);
+    assertCommandAndResponse(
+        "hello.xml",
+        null,
+        "greeting_crr.xml",
+        ImmutableMap.of("DATE", now.toString(ISODateTimeFormat.dateTimeNoMillis())),
+        now);
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/javatests/google/registry/flows/FlowTestCase.java b/javatests/google/registry/flows/FlowTestCase.java
index 1bae53ff2..83735693f 100644
--- a/javatests/google/registry/flows/FlowTestCase.java
+++ b/javatests/google/registry/flows/FlowTestCase.java
@@ -288,7 +288,9 @@ public abstract class FlowTestCase<F extends Flow> {
       CommitMode commitMode, UserPrivileges userPrivileges, String xml, String... ignoredPaths)
       throws Exception {
     EppOutput eppOutput = getFlowRunner().run(commitMode, userPrivileges);
-    assertThat(eppOutput.isSuccess()).isTrue();
+    if (eppOutput.isResponse()) {
+      assertThat(eppOutput.isSuccess()).isTrue();
+    }
     try {
       assertXmlEquals(
           xml, new String(marshal(eppOutput, ValidationMode.STRICT), UTF_8), ignoredPaths);
diff --git a/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlowTest.java b/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlowTest.java
index 5dcd778a1..1fdae2191 100644
--- a/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlowTest.java
+++ b/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/HelloFlowTest.java
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@
 
 package google.registry.flows.session;
 
-import static google.registry.flows.EppXmlTransformer.marshal;
-import static google.registry.xml.ValidationMode.STRICT;
-import static google.registry.xml.XmlTestUtils.assertXmlEquals;
-import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
+import static google.registry.testing.TestDataHelper.loadFileWithSubstitutions;
+import static org.joda.time.format.ISODateTimeFormat.dateTimeNoMillis;
+
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 
 import google.registry.flows.FlowTestCase;
 
@@ -29,8 +29,11 @@ public class HelloFlowTest extends FlowTestCase<HelloFlow> {
   public void testHello() throws Exception {
     setEppInput("hello.xml");
     assertTransactionalFlow(false);
-    assertXmlEquals(readFile("greeting_crr.xml"), new String(marshal(runFlow(), STRICT), UTF_8),
-        "epp.greeting.svDate");
+    runFlowAssertResponse(
+        loadFileWithSubstitutions(
+            getClass(),
+            "greeting_crr.xml",
+            ImmutableMap.of("DATE", clock.nowUtc().toString(dateTimeNoMillis()))));
   }
 
   // Extra methods so the test runner doesn't produce empty shards.
diff --git a/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/testdata/greeting_crr.xml b/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/testdata/greeting_crr.xml
index 00656f0ba..ef0257382 100644
--- a/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/testdata/greeting_crr.xml
+++ b/javatests/google/registry/flows/session/testdata/greeting_crr.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <epp xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:epp-1.0">
   <greeting>
     <svID>Charleston Road Registry</svID>
-    <svDate>2000-06-08T22:00:00.0Z</svDate>
+    <svDate>%DATE%</svDate>
     <svcMenu>
       <version>1.0</version>
       <lang>en</lang>
diff --git a/javatests/google/registry/flows/testdata/greeting_crr.xml b/javatests/google/registry/flows/testdata/greeting_crr.xml
index 00656f0ba..ef0257382 100644
--- a/javatests/google/registry/flows/testdata/greeting_crr.xml
+++ b/javatests/google/registry/flows/testdata/greeting_crr.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <epp xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:epp-1.0">
   <greeting>
     <svID>Charleston Road Registry</svID>
-    <svDate>2000-06-08T22:00:00.0Z</svDate>
+    <svDate>%DATE%</svDate>
     <svcMenu>
       <version>1.0</version>
       <lang>en</lang>