diff --git a/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.cc b/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.cc
index 5e040d8..819584b 100644
--- a/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.cc
+++ b/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.cc
@@ -171,10 +171,10 @@ NotificationEngine::NotificationEngine()
     message_expiration( -1 )
 {}
 
-static std::string human_readable_duration(int num_seconds) {
+static std::string human_readable_duration( int num_seconds, const std::string seconds_abbr ) {
   char tmp[ 128 ];
   if ( num_seconds < 60 ) {
-    snprintf( tmp, 128, "%d seconds", num_seconds );
+    snprintf( tmp, 128, "%d %s", num_seconds, seconds_abbr.c_str() );
   } else if ( num_seconds < 3600 ) {
     snprintf( tmp, 128, "%d:%02d", num_seconds / 60, num_seconds % 60 );
   } else {
@@ -235,12 +235,13 @@ void NotificationEngine::apply( Framebuffer &fb ) const
   if ( message.empty() && (!time_expired) ) {
     return;
   } else if ( message.empty() && time_expired ) {
-    swprintf( tmp, 128, L"mosh: Last %s %s ago. [To quit: Ctrl-^ .]", explanation, human_readable_duration(time_elapsed).c_str() );
+    swprintf( tmp, 128, L"mosh: Last %s %s ago. [To quit: Ctrl-^ .]", explanation,
+	      human_readable_duration( time_elapsed, "seconds" ).c_str() );
   } else if ( (!message.empty()) && (!time_expired) ) {
     swprintf( tmp, 128, L"mosh: %ls [To quit: Ctrl-^ .]", message.c_str() );
   } else {
-    swprintf( tmp, 128, L"mosh: %ls (%.0f s without %s.) [To quit: Ctrl-^ .]", message.c_str(),
-	      time_elapsed, explanation );
+    swprintf( tmp, 128, L"mosh: %ls (%s without %s.) [To quit: Ctrl-^ .]", message.c_str(),
+	      human_readable_duration( time_elapsed, "s" ).c_str(), explanation );
   }
 
   wstring string_to_draw( tmp );